The Person I Admire
by Gadalla Rune
Summary: Its been 3 yrs since the battle at the Valley of the End. Naruto returns home, much to the joy of a certain Hyuuga girl, but to keep that joy they're going to have to fight for it... away from Konoha. NaruXHina & other pairings.
1. The Return Home

What can I say? I'm so obsessed with Naruto that I started fanfic. I've always wanted to do one about Naruto and Hinata though. It took me a bit to com eup with the plot for this. But its going to be good. At least I think so.

This is rated 'M' for the later chapters where I expect strong language, intense violence and adult themes.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto or any of its affiliates, I only own this plot and my own original characters.

**NOTE!!- READ THIS OR I WILLBE PISSED:** The first twenty or so chapters of this story have a very massive amount of mistakes. Mostly grammatical, but a couple are of accidently mixing words, names or just plain misspelling them. There are also probably plot holes the size of Texas amongst these chapters as well. I have not had the time to go back and edit them. Matter of fact this story is finishing up in about 10 or so more chapters. After that, before I even think of typing the sequal (yes there will be one) I am going back and revising- not editing- _REVISING_ all of the early chapters (pretty much the first twenty) they will still be the same in context, but I will be fixing things and probably just adding more details. Goodies, lots of work.

Now... that said, if you have any problems with what I decide to do in this fic and you feel the disgusting cowardly urge to flame about it, at least have the balls to leave a _signed_ comment. Annonymous reviews that flame and don't even have an email attached to them, are from pussies, and I don't have time to deal with childish wimps anyway.

Well, without further ado, Enjoy!... or die...

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Return Home**

It had been three whole years since he had been here. Three whole years of wandering around and training with that pervert sennin Jiraiya... three whole years since that fateful day at Valley's End.

Three whole years since he had fought with Sasuke. Three years he wasn't able to keep his promise to Sakura-chan.

_Sasuke_…

The thought of his old rival and best friend seemed to put a gloomy mood over Naruto as he walked through such familiar, and yet unfamiliar, woods to the only place he found acceptance, and yet at the same time, rejection.

_Konoha. _Home.

Jaraiya looked over at the blonde young man walking next to him. "Cheer up Naruto. Its been three years since you've been back, I thought you'd be excited about seeing everyone and showing off how much stronger you've become."

Naruto shook himself out of his foreboding thoughts. "Nah, I'm fine Ero-sennin, just thinking up a way that I can show everyone how badass I am now!" The truth was he really was excited about coming back and seeing all the people he held so dear to him. It had been too long since he had seen the people that he considered his friends.

After a few more minutes of walking they came to the main gate of the Hidden Village of the Leaf. _Just like I remembered it._ Thought Naruto. His excitement was growing with each step they took toward the towering gates.

Two guards from the top of the wall jumped down to inspect the two road-worn travelers. "Who goes there, and what is your business in the Hidden Village of the Leaf?"

Naruto stood dumbfounded at what he just heard. "WHAT! What the hell are you talking about who am I? I'm Uzumaki Naruto! The future Hokage of Konoha! That's who I am!"

Jiraiya gave an apologetic shrug towards the two guards. "Sorry guys, I guess he expected everyone to recognize him, even though he's been gone for _three years_." Jiraiya said this last part while giving Naruto a warning glance. Naruto reluctantly backed off, but still sniffed and turned his back on the two guards.

ONe of the guards eyes lit up with recognition, "Ha ha ha ha! It is him! Who could forget Konoha's loudest ninja! I remember watching him at the chuunin exams, when he beat Hyuuga Neji, that was an awsome fight!"

The other guard simply nodded. "You're right it his him." He turned to the white haired man, who was actually shorter than the blonde ninja standing next to him "Then you must be Jiraiya, the Toad Sannin.

"Welcome back to Konoha, you are to report directly to Hokage-sama. She's been expecting you." And with that the two gate guards gave a signal and the twin gates cranked slowly open.

As Naruto and Jiraiya strode by and into the village one of the gate guards turned to his companion "I didn't know if it was him or not, last I remembered Uzumaki was one of the shortest ninjas around. Now he's one of the tallest I've seen."

His companion merely nodded, "He sure has grown in the past three years."

* * *

As they passed through the gate they made their way directly to the Hokage's office, near the center of the village. As they walked by houses and stores, people stopped and stared at the six foot plus ninja that was Naruto. "Hey Ero-sennin, why is everyone staring at me?"

Jiraiya had to crane his neck to look at Naruto's face, "Probably because they recognize you and are happy that you're back!" Jiraiya gave one of his 'grins' "Maybe some girls think you're hot or something! Hahahaha!"

Naruto could only roll his eyes. _Pervert, all he ever thinks about are girls._ "C'mon lets go see Obaa-chan."

As they approached the center of the village and the Godaime's office, Naruto noticed something was different, but couldn't quite place it. Then it him "Holy shit! They got Obaa-chan's mug up on the cliff! Look!"

Jiraiya followed Naruto's pointing finger, "Hmm. Looks like they do! Now I can look at her _all_ the time!" Jiraiya suddenly went crashing to the ground as Naruto knocked him on the top of the head. An occurance that the Toad sannin had become rather accustomed to.

"Pervert Sennin!" Naruto wondered if the man ever stopped.

* * *

Tsunade was reading a report on how many missions there were that needed to be completed. It wasn't looking good. _Three years and we still don't have enough ninja to keep up with the missions. _Tsunade moaned and lightly banged her forehead on her desk.

There was a knock at the door and none other than Hatake Kakashi stuck his head into the room.

"Uhh… sorry for disturbing your thinking Hokage-sama, but I just returned from my mission, which was a success, and look who I found standing in the waiting room!" Kakashi pushed the door open the rest of the way to reveal Naruto and Jiraiya standing in the doorway.

Tsunade's face lit up in one of her very few smiles. "Naruto! You've returned! And you've gotten so... _big_! Wow!" Tsunade walked around her desk and had to reach up to put her hands on the young man's shoulders. "My, my. Haven't you grown-up!"

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head. "Ah, thanks Obaa-chan! I missed seeing you too!"

"And I missed you too!" Jiraiya piped up, smiling wide.

Tsunade nodded curtly at her former team-mate "Glad your not dead yet either Jiraiya." She then turned away from the two, gesturing towards a couple of chairs "Sit, sit, and Kakashi thank you for bringing these two, I'll document your mission as complete." As Kakashi closed the door behind him Tsunade turned to the two sitting across from her. "I trust you kept Naruto out of trouble Jiraiya? And Naruto, you have improved very much from what I read in Jiraiya's reports."

Naruto grinned "Yeah, it was really great, ol'Ero-sennin can be a pretty tough sensei. But it was all worth it, I'm loads stronger now!" And as if to emphasize the fact Naruto flexed both of his arms in a childish fashion.

Tsunade smiled in exasperation, _he hasn't changed much_, but she had to admit though, the kid was _ripped_. His body had grown amazingly fast over the three short year that he had been gone, and Jiraiya had apparently put him through a large amount of physical training. He wasn't overly muscular like a body builder, but she had no doubt that every muscle under his clothes was defined, hard and powerful.

Tsunade gave a warm smile towards the blue-eyed blonde, "And how were your travels and… "experiences" with Jiraiya?" Tsunade gave a hard stare towards Jiraiya.

Jiraiya gulped audibly, catching the hidden meaning of Tsunade's words.

Naruto on the other hand just laughed, "If your wondering if I'm still a virgin, don't worry, it was usually up to me to save Jiraiya from certain death when he got caught in the woman's showers." Naruto chuckled, "Besides I don't need a girlfriend! I'm perfectly fine!"

Tsunade, however, relieved as she was at the news that Jiraiya's habits seemed to have a reverse effect on Naruto, could see that he wasn't fine. Naruto was almost seventeen, he probably couldn't stop thinking about girls even though he wouldn't admit it. And after such a hard past and having difficulty making friends, he was probably depressed that he had never had the affections of someone other than the few adults who understood and respected him. She pitied him at the moment, even though she knew it wasn't what he wanted. _Oh well, with a body and looks like that, he won't be finding it hard to find a date now that he's back in civilization. _

Tsunade erased her worries and focused on the task at hand, "Alright, Naruto before I dismiss you, I wish to give you the news that you are to participate in the upcoming chuunin exam in the next seven days. Since you are the only one of your class who isn't at least a chuunin yet."

Naruto's grin diminished somewhat, "Heheh, so I am the only genin in my class then?"

Tsunade smiled "You and Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto started in surprise, "Huh? Hinata-chan isn't a chuunin yet? How come?"

Tsunade sighed, "Because the year that you left, when the chuunin exam was held for the second time, Hinata and her team did fine. Hinata lost her fight in the third part of the exam though and wasn't elected to become a chuunin. Almost all the other genin though, including her teammates, Kiba and Shino, achieved chuunin rank. She hasn't tried again since."

Naruto stared wide eyed. "Huh? That isn't like Hinata-chan at all! She might be a little quiet but she's tough, I know! I'd have thought she would've gone back as soon as possible for another try!" Naruto scratched his head in a confused manner.

Tsunade could only smile inwardly. The girl was in love with him, and no matter how much he had matured he still hadn't figured it out. She knew why Hinata didn't go back and try, she only tried because of Naruto having confidence in her, she didn't want to lose his confidence.

An idea bloomed in Tsunade's head like a flower opening up to the sun. "You know Naruto… Hinata would probably try again if you gave her some of your renown encouragement, maybe? And if she knew that her number one loudest fan was going to be there as well. Hmm?" Tsunade raised questioning eyebrows at the young man sitting across form her.

Naruto's face instantly lit up "Yeah! Of course she'll try again if she knows I'm going to be there to root her on! Hey! Maybe we'll be on teams! Then no one would stop us! She's sure to make chuunin this time around, I'll make sure of it!" Naruto jumped out of his chair and srode to the door "Matter of fact, we only got seven days. I'll convince her to go to the exam today, that way we can start training right away!"

Tsunade jumped up and yelled "Naruto think fast!" as she threw something at him. Naruto smoothly caught it just before it hit him in the temple. "Huh? What are these Obaa-chan?" He was holding a ring of keys in his hand.

Tsunade smirked "Those, are the keys to your new house. The place you were living in was a dump, so I found a new place that hasn't been inhabited for a few years now, I had your stuff moved over there. Kakashi will show you the way."

Naruto smiled and waved at his one time sensei and the Godaime, "Thanks Obaa-chan! See ya Ero-sannin!" And with that he walked out the door.

* * *

Jiraiya turned back to Tsunade. "You didn't!" he said in disbelief.

Tsunade gave a small mischievous smile, "It is his inheritance after all, his brother would've wanted him to have it. Besides, he's sixteen, he's old enough now to own it."

Jiraiya gave a somber laugh "Yeah, his entire family would've wanted him to have it."

A few moments of silence passed before he spoke up again, "So? How does the search for the Uchiha kid, Orochimaru _and_ the Akastuki go?"

Tsunade gave a deep and remorseful sigh. "We don't know what Orochimaru is up to right now, other than the fact that he has three sound nins in the upcoming chuunin exam, and of the Akatsuki, all we know is that they're still searching for Naruto, you probably know more than us Jiraiya."

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows in a mildly interested manner, "Not at all actually, the boy's training took up almost all of my time, I hardly had enough time to finish the sequel to the 'Come Come Paradise' series. And what of the Uchiha boy? You didn't tell me about the situation with that."

Tsunade could only let out another sigh, "We've abandoned the search for him."

Jiraiya's eyebrows rose even more, "Why? Naruto won't be happy about this, you know that right?"

Tsunade could only stare at her desk, "I know, Sakura didn't take it very well when I told her either. I would tell Naruto but he'll probably hear it from her before he sees me again. It's pointless to go after him now though, I gave Naruto to you for three years in order to keep him form trying to kill himself trying to find Uchiha, and of course to keep him from Itachi. But three years wasn't enough time for us, we couldn't find him, and now three years have passed and he hasn't returned. he's probably already Orochimaru's vessel now, and if not, he's so lost in the darkness I don't even think Naruto can bring him back."

A single tear escaped Tsunade's eye. "I wish I could make it up to Naruto and Sakura somehow, but all I can do now is protect him from Itachi. That's why I'm sending him to the 'Tree-house' Jiraiya, only you and I know where it is, I'm going to send a small group of bodyguards, he'll stay up there until we've dealt with Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki." Tsunade sighed and rested her chin on her palms, "I plan on telling him after the chuunin exam, I should have a team assembled by then to protect him. He won't like it, but he'll have to deal with it." Tsunade was trying to sound resolute in her decision, but she couldn't help but let the guilt creep into her voice.

Jiraiya nodded solemnly, "I agree, thats a good idea Tsunade, you're doing a great job at keeping Naruto safe."

Then she completely broke down sobbing into her hands. "Oh Jiraiya! I've been such a screw up! Its been three years already and we still don't have enough ninja to keep up with the missions, and I've completely failed Naruto and Sakura! I wasn't able to save Sasuke for them!" She continued to sob into her hands, tears leaking through her fingers.

Jiraiya was at a lost and completely dumbfounded, Tsunade cried so rarely that he didn't remember the last time he had seen her cry, maybe he never had. Not to mention the fact that tears were his one and only true weakness, even more so than beautiful women. Jiraiya got up slowly and walked around the desk and started to put his arm around his old teammate in an attempt to comfort her when out of nowhere a hand grabbed him by the throat and pulled him to eyelevel with Tsunade.

"If you even _think_ about touching me in anyway that could be deemed perverted I'll knock you from here into tomorrow." Said Tsunade through sobs and teary eyes.

"Never crossed my mind!" Squeaked Jiraiya.

And with that Tsunade threw herself against Jiraiya and continued to sob out all the frustration she had been keeping bottled up for the past three years into her teammate's chest as he held her with his arms and waited patiently for her to cry it all out.

* * *

Kakashi and Naruto had just reached his new house.

"This can't be it! Obaa-chan said a house! Not a freaking castle!" Naruto was waving his hands at Kakashi attempting to convince him that this wasn't the right the place.

Kakashi gave one of his melodramatic sighs and rolled his eyes, "It's the right address Naruto, I don't know what you're complaining about anyway, isn't it big enough?"

Naruto stopped his yelling, "Well yeah its big enough! Its just… umm, _really_ big." It was true, it wasn't just a house, it was an old abandoned clan house, almost as large as the Hyuuga's clan house. There must have been over a hundred bedrooms, that didn't include guestrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, the kitchen the basement, the storage house or the grounds for that matter. It was mostly single story, but the main building was definitely at least three stories high.

Kakashi chuckled "Well just imagine the huge parties and raves you could have here. And with that he left Naruto standing at the front gate.

Naruto just stood there for an hour, just looking at the complex from outside of the grounds before he went up to the double gate and pulled out his key ring.He put a rather large iron key into the padlock on the gate.

He turned the key slowly, only half hoping… then _click_! The padlock opened and the gates swung inward hardly making a sound.

Naruto grinned and walked up to the main building and opened the doorwith what was apparently the main house key, an elaborate key made of solid brass with a red spiral done in red on the handle.

His day was getting better and better, he had come back to Konoha, he was entered in the upcoming chuunin exams and now he had a giant castle-sized house all to himself.

And it was still only 9:00 a.m. in the morning.

* * *

Woot! First chapter done! I really like it, and I can't wait to put up the next chapter, but I need reviews. I hope you liked it too, and even if you didn't I'd like to hear what you think I could do to make it better.

Reviews Pleez!


	2. Gifts and the Spring of Youth!

Ok! chapter 2 finally up! whew, sorry but this one is a bit longer than the last chapter, not too much happens except friendly meetings and a cool fight scene.

**Note of warning:** anyone here who was expectiong hot Naruto on Hinata action within the first couple of chapters, don't read this story. This story is about the growth of Naruto's and Hinata's relationship, and it will take some time. I will most likely get to that hot action that everyone wants, but that will be later in the story. so if your willing to wait and see what happens then read on!

And for those people who reviewed my first chapter, Thank You! especially you KlosetAuthor!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Gifts and the Spring of Youth! **

He was having such a wonderful dream, his opponent had been caught in a trap that he couldn't get out of. His opponent's King couldn't move anywhere due to his strategically placed pieces. _I've won,_ he thought amusingly and with just a touch of excitement. And just as he was about to place his rook and declare check-mate…

"SHIKAMARU! CHOUJI!" came a high, screaming voice, accompanied with intense pounding on a distant door. "Wake UP! I've got something to tell you!" With that he heard a click and a door slam open and shut.

Shikamaru slowly opened his eyes, waking up just before his intended chess 'dream-victory'. How can that woman be awake? They had just returned from a search and rescue mission that involved a kidnapped village lord and an angry gang boss, and he had just finally finished his report to Hokage-sama and fallen asleep. He turned over and noticed the light coming through the window blinds. _So I did get some sleep._

Then he noticed his clock, it was 9:00 a.m., he had only gotten five hours of sleep.

Across from him and closer to the window slept the large and softly rumbling form of Chouji, his teammate, roommate, and best friend. He was still sleeping, oblivious to the shrieking blonde that was now marching up the stairs to their apartment room. Shikamaru envied him.

"Chouji, wake up" Shikamaru said softly. For some reason Chouji would wake up if you said his name in a normal tone of voice. He would not wake up, however, to any amount of ice water poured over his head. Shikamaru knew, he had tried it before to no avail.

"Huh?… wha…?" Chouji, slowly sat up rubbing at his sleep filled eyes. "Shikamaru?" Chouji began to yawn and stuck his hand over his mouth. "Wha… you wake me up for?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, and got out of bed, he was still dressed in his customary fishnet shirt but he had left his chuunin vest hanging on his bedpost. "Just listen."

There came a pounding on their door and another high-pitched yell. "GUYS! Wake up! I've got some really awesome news!" Shikamaru wondered why the door didn't splinter form the force of her yelling.

Chouji rolled his eyes as well, he had black bags under his eyes, as did Shikamaru he noticed. They had both stayed up till four in the morning finishing their mission report to the Hokage in hopes of a day of simply sleeping and lounging about in bed. Ino had said she had important business to take care of and was able to skip out on helping with the report."Does she know the meaning of the word quiet? Or maybe even shut up?"

There came a pause at the door, "I heard that Chouji." There was a warning tone in the voice.

Chouji leaned towards Shikamaru and whispered, "At least she's not breaking anyone's eardrums now." Shikamaru could only grin, for at that moment what appeared to be a storm of blonde hair swept into the room and started pummeling Chouji's skull.

Shikamaru sighed and waited for the beating to finish. So troublesome.

After what appeared to be a blonde fury beating the crap out of poor Chouji, Shikamaru spoke up, "What is it you got to tell us Ino?"

Ino turned around to face Shikamaru, leaving a bruised and battered Chouji lying dazed on the bed. She had grown out her hair again after her fight with Sakura, it was once again the long pony tail that reached the top of her ankles. She had filled out as well, growing a considerable bosom and well rounded hips. Many men had asked her out on dates, but she had politely, and sometimes not so politely, refused them... for three years straight.

Shikamaru sighed, sometimes it was so obvious that she was in love with Chouji that he couldn't figure out how his blocky friend didn't seem to notice at all. And Chouji had gotten blocky alright, he was no longer the chubby boy who ate food all the time, he was still very broad and wide, but was now a block of solid muscle… who happened to eat food all the time.

Ino would sit out during their group training, saying she had to take a rest. Shikamaru knew it was because she just wanted to watch Chouji, which she did, accompanied with blushing cheeks, starry eyes and a lot of sighing. Ino was not usually one to be shy, but when it came to Chouji she just couldn't bring herself to tell him her feelings. Shikamaru had heard that she hadeven taken a six month class in cooking.

Shikamaru sighed again, he figured if Ino kept this up, which she had for three years straight and with no sign of slowing down, they would get together eventually. So he merely grinned from the sidelines watching their drama unfold like a chess game. _Chouji's almost as bad as Naruto was with Hinata._

Shikamaru returned form his thoughts and looked at the excited young woman that was Ino. She was literally bouncing on her toes in over excitement. "What is it Ino? You woke us up."

Ino stopped her bouncing and frowned at Shikamaru, She had to look up to do so though. Unlike Chouji who had gotten wider, Shikamaru had gotten taller, shooting up like a beanstalk, he was even taller than his dad, and one of the tallest jounin in the village. "I know! But wait until you hear what Tsunade-sama told me!"

Shikamaru crossed his arms and waited patiently for the climatic response.

"Naruto's come back! And he's staying in that old clan house that they've been wanting to tear down for years!" She positively shreiked it.

Shikamaru's eyes widened in surprise, he had forgotten Naruto was supposed to be back this year. Chouji sat up from his bed, still swaying slightly from the pounding that his skull had received. "Naruto's come back? That _is_ awesome!"

Ino literally glowed from the compliment unknowingly given to her from Chouji. Of course Chouji didn't give any sign of noticing.

"Let me guess. You came up here to tell us this because you want us to go see him with you .Right?" Even though Shikamaru would prefer sleep, he wouldn't mind seeing his onetime teammate again.

Ino gave one of her flashy smiles that usually caused most men to get down on their hand and knees and crawl towards her drooling like dogs. It had no effect on either of the young men. "Actually we're going shopping first, we need to get him some homecoming gifts! Meet me back here in two hours, and you better have your gifts!" With that she sauntered expertly out of the room, exposing her swaying rear for Chouji to see.

Chouji's only response was to raise his eyebrows slightly in mild interest, then turn to his friend with a weak smile. "I guess you and I are going shopping then huh?"

Shikamaru could only shake his head from side to side in an exasperated manner. "…troublesome…"

* * *

Sakura sat in one of the blue seats with her back hunched and her chin resting on the palms of her hands, the seats were cushioned, but her butt was starting to get sore. Across the waiting room, facing her, lounged Kiba. In his often seen dog fur parka. This one had white fur on it though, and he usually wore it open now, revealing the chest-plate that he wore underneath. 

At Kiba's feet, laying with his giant head in his oversized paws,was Akamaru, no longer the small puppy that he once was, but now a rather large white-furred mutt. Who, when not fighting, enjoyed tackling anyone in sight and licking their faces to death.

Kiba had grown too, he was bigger of course, but the most noticeable difference was his hair, which was now a dark shaggy mane that reached past his shoulders, it could go without saying that he had no reason to wear his parka hood anymore.

Sakura had hardly changed at all though, at least in dress, she still wore the same red dress and black shorts, with some minor alterations in design, suggested by Ino, plus she wore black gloves now almost at all times. The gloves were padded and especially made to withstand impact, so that she could perform her earth shattering taijutsu techniques that Tsunade-sensei had taught her. She had filled out as well though, not as much as she would of liked however, she couldn't help but notice how many men happened to ignore her and stare at Ino's chest as they walked by. Unlike Ino however, she had kept her hair short around the jaw-line, and kept out of her face with her forehead protector that always sat on top of her head.

They were both waiting for Shino to come out of the Hokage's office and finish handing in their mission report, so that they could get back to their apartment and catch some shut-eye. They had just returned from hunting down a runaway genin and returning him to Konoha custody.

Finally the door opened and out came the Intimidating figure of Shino. He was taller than Kiba and he now wore a black trench coat that reached his ankles and of course had a collar so high it hid half his face, he still wore the black glasses that hid his eyes though. Sakura could also see that he was growing a mustache, so that he was beginning to resemble his father. "Sakura, Hokage-sama wishes to have a word with you."

Sakura got up nervously and entered the Hokage's office, she could never tell what emotion Shino was feeling since he always spoke in a soft monotone. So she didn't know whether she was getting a praise or whether she was on thin ice.

She softly closed the door behind her. "Hokage-sama?" Sakura could see the woman that was the leader of their village sitting behind her desk going through a stack of papers, chewing on the end of a pen and frowning in concentration. She looked like she was in her mid to late twenties, not her mid fifties like she should've appeared.

The woman sitting behind the desk looked up to see the pink haired girl standing nervously in front of the office door. "Sit down Sakura and stop fidgeting will you, you'd think I called you in here to yell at you."

Sakura let out the breath she was holding in apparent relief. The temperamental Hokage wasn't going to give her one of her infamous shouting marathons. Of course now that Sakura thought about it, she had no idea what she could of done to earn such a reprimand from the Hokage. "What did you want to see me for Tsunade-sensei?"

Tsunade set the papers she was working on to the side and rested her chin on her hands. "I have some news to give you Sakura, Your old teammate Naruto just returned from his training trip with Jaraiya about two hours ago." Tsunade smiled at the shocked expression on her pupil's face.

Sakura jumped out of her chair in excitement, suppressing a girlish squeal. "Naruto is back! Where the hell is he, I gotta go see him!" Sakura was nearly exploding with almost uncontained energy. Naruto! She hadn't seen him since he was in the hospital, injured from his battle with Sasuke-kun. They had grown to become close friends then, both caring and worried for Sasuke.

Tsunade smiled, remembering her excitement at seeing the young man return unharmed, she had missed him too. But Sakura caught a warning glance in Tsunade's eye and instantly calmed down, "What is it Tsunade-sensei?"

Tsunade took a deep breath, causing her bosom to stretch against her shirt, prepping herself for what she had to tell her student. "Sakura, under any circumstances you can not tell Naruto about us aborting the search for Sasuke."

Sakura felt a well of anger begin to rise up. She still hadn't fully forgiven her sensei for not only abandoning the search for her Sasuke-kun, but for forbidding her of even trying to find him. "And why not." Sakura almost spat the words between gritted teeth.

Tsunade sighed, she understood Sakura's anger at her, hell she was angry at herself for doing it, but it was something that had to be done. "You can still tell him, but you have to wait for a week or so, after the chuunin exams. I've entered Naruto, and I don't need him getting worried, depressed, angry, over-anxious or all of the above while he's trying to focus on life and death situations during the exam. Do you understand Sakura? You can still tell him, but you have to wait a bit." Tsunade leaned back in her chair and waited for her message to sink in.

It took several minutes of Sakura silently fuming before she started to see the reasoning behind Tsunade's words. She sighed, almost letting go of all the anger and frustration she had built up, almost. "I guess I can wait a bit. But I don't have to like it or pretend I do. And I'm telling him right after the exam, okay?"

Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief, Sakura had picked up her habit of loud yelling and swinging punches when she got angry. She didn't want to have to knock some control into her best student if she got out of hand. "Promise?"

Sakura bit her lower lip and chewed for a moment before answering. "Promise." She said grudgingly. "I still don't have to like it though."

Tsunade smiled and nodded her head. "I didn't expect you to. Now go, I think there's a certain blonde, messy-haired ninja you've been waiting to see." She was glad to see Sakura smile warmly and walk out of the office, at least she didn't slam the door, that was a good sign.

Sakura reentered the waiting room to see Shino and Kiba speaking to each other. Akamaru gave a deep bark when she came out of the office, causing Kiba to look up and smile wolfishly at Sakura. "Shino just got done telling me about Naruto getting back! C'mon, I can't wait to see the little twerp!"

* * *

Naruto was finding that having a castle-sized house to himself wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He had found his room on the third floor of the main building, it was a _big_ room, with its own bathroom that had a swimming pool sized bathtub/ shower and even its own sauna. The bed was a huge four-poster made of solid oak, and with silk sheets. There was also a couch, a big screen TV, and a mini-kitchen, complete with a full-sized refrigerator. 

All of his things were in the room, including changes of his old orange jacket and pants that he no longer fit into. And of course a cabinet stocked full of ramen bowls and shin-cups. After he dropped off his stuff he decided to do a little exploring of the premises.

The second floor of the main building had two honorary guest bedrooms, complete with everything the master bedroom had, except everything was on smaller scale and there wasn't a sauna. The entire first floor was one big entry room that could be used as a living room. Here everyone came from the front lawn through the entry way and into the rest of the complex behind the main tower.

From the outside one could see that the walls of the entire house were white stucco and the roofs were an emerald colored tile. The front lawn was longer than it was wide, with a cobble stone walkway that led up to the solid oak door of the main tower. Behind the tower it opened up into a square courtyard that was about a hundred feet on each side and surrounded by a covered boardwalk. The courtyard had a sand floor with concrete walkways weaving through it, a little stream that ran from one side to the other, and even a little bridge over the 'mini' river. And of course a few trees a couple of boulders and some bushes and flowers to finish off the pretty scene.

From the boardwalk one could enter other rooms, including the kitchen and dining room which was on the other side of the main tower, and into other sections of the house complex. Naruto found that the only rooms that were cleaned were the ones in the main tower. Almost every other room in the tower was empty and dusty. The kitchen was devoid of any cooking materials, and the dining room lacked even a table, of course Naruto figured the table would have to be several yards long in order to fill the narrow room.

He could tell he was only expected to live in the main tower, he had everything he needed there. This place was apparently meant for an extensive family, and he was the only one here.

He suddenly felt very alone while standing in one of the empty rooms, watching the dust float trough the sunrays, he had no family, he may have never had a family, for all he knew he was the kyuubi reborn as a child. He quickly rubbed tears from his eyes with the palms of his eyes, he wasn't going to cry about this, he cried enough over it already.

He quickly went back to his room, skipping over the other unopened rooms, and began to unpack his things with an unnatural vigor, as if he wanted to feel at home as quickly as possible.

He was just finishing up putting away clothes that would fit him and putting up all the baubles he had gotten on his travels with Jaraiya, when the house bell rang. It came from a small speaker up on the wall, he had noticed them in most of the rooms he had gone into. It made a small chiming sound that was peaceful, and yet at the same time slightly annoying.

Naruto quickly pulled on a orange T-shirt and galloped down the stairs. He had been trying to see if his old orange jackets would fit him, only to end up causing the one he tried on to rip down the back as if he was transforming into the Hulk. _Hmm. I guess I've gotten a little bigger since I've worn my old clothes._

When Naruto finally reached the front door the doorbell had already rang twice more. "Coming!"

Once he finally opened the door he was quickly picked off the ground and treated to a rib-crushing hug. "NARUTO-SAN!" Naruto was being crushed by what appeared to be someone with black hair and wearing a green leotard.

"Lee…san… you're… crushing me!" Naruto was instantly put down. "Ah! Many apologies Naruto-san! But I was just so happy to hear of your return to our homeland!"

Naruto looked up from his sitting position at the taijutsu master that had saved him from the psychopathic Kimimaro. Rock Lee. He hadn't changed much, other than the fact he had gotten taller and was apparently more toned, he still wore the same green suit and orange stockings complete with bandaged arms. But now he wore a chuunin vest left unzipped, just like his sensei Maito Gai. "Many greetings Naruto-san! I heard rumor of your return and quickly went to see the Hokage and ask of your whereabouts. Then I ran all the way here to see you as soon as possible!" Lee smiled and struck his nice-guy pose.

Naruto could only gape at the amount of energy Lee-san projected, he seemed to be the only person who beat Naruto in stamina and hard work. "Hey Lee-san!" Naruto stood up and grasped Lee's hand in a vigorous handshake, that ended up with Naruto massaging his hand wondering how many bones were broken. "Its good to see you to Lee-san."

Lee-san smiled wider, "Many thanks comrade! I have brought you… what do they call it? A homecoming gift?" Lee-san produced from his vest a small, poorly wrapped package and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto examined the present which was wrapped in green wrapping paper, which he noticed matched Lee's ninja outfit. "Lee you shouldn't have…" Lee let out a jovial laugh "Nonsense my friend! It was my pleasure!" Naruto examined the package a bit more before opening it. Inside was a box and when he opened it he could see that inside lie two neatly folded strips of white cloth. Naruto pulled both out, each strip was about four feet long. "Uhhh… what are they?"

Lee held up his arms and pointed at the white bandages wrapped around his arms and smiled. "Try them on Naruto-san! I wish to see how you look in them!" Naruto shrugged and began to wrap them around his arms. When he was done he didn't know what to do exactly, so he struck a nice-guy pose and smiled.

Lee smiled and struck his own nice-guy pose "Aha! Like a true warrior Naruto-san! You and I, we shall keep the spring of youth alive!"

Naruto could only laugh good heartedly. The bandages were quite comfortable actually. He noticed Lee-san was grinning wider and wider and nearly bouncing on his toes from excitement. "What is it Lee-san?" Naruto was quickly suspicious of the bouncing nin.

As if he was waiting for that exact question Lee burst out, "You are going to love this part Naruto-san!" Naruto could only frown in confusion. "Please my friend, try gathering your chakra into your armbands! Trust me you will like this."

Naruto continued to frown and began to gather a little bit of chakra into the arm bandages. "Ok… now what?" Lee-san smiled "Release it." Naruto scowled "What?"

But Lee was persistent "Just release it." Naruto did as he was asked and was instantly shocked at what he saw.

The chakra in his armbands should've dissipated after releasing it, but instead the chakra was still there in the armbands, swirling around, visible to his eyes. "Whoa! COOL! They store chakra!"

Lee-san smiled his widest. "Yes they do! They are just like mine, you can store an equivalent amount of chakra in your armbands equal to how much you normally have fully rested, and you can save it for later at anytime! I use mine for taijutsu, but you can use it for ninjutsu and genjutsu as well!"

Naruto was now grinning, "Wow! Lee these are awesome! Thanks!"

"No problem my friend! The pleasure is all mine!" Then Lee got a mischievous glint in his eye, "Would you like to try them out Naruto-san? A friendly one on one match maybe?"

Naruto grinned with just as much mischief. He was really looking forward to seeing how good lee's taijutsu had gotten. "Sure! Come on out back, I got this big ass courtyard out back we can spar in!"

* * *

Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino were on their way to Naruto's house. Ino was walking exceptionally close to Chouji, who of course didn't seem to notice the attention. 

Shikamaru looked at the surrounding buildings, "Are you sure this the right way Ino?" They were headed towards the direction were the Hyuuga and former Uchiha clan houses were located.

Ino glared at Shikamaru "Of course this the right way you baka! I would never get us lost!"

Chouji snorted around a mouthful of chips, "You got us lost in that forest when we were running away from that gang boss and his thugs, and while we were trying to get the village lord to safety." He then promptly stuffed another handful of chips into his mouth.

Ino began to pout, "That wasn't my fault Chouji! It was that stupid map the village folk gave us!"

Shikamaru sighed, "Lets just find his house, give him our gifts and get back to bed. I really need to catch up on some sleep." He had bags under his eyes that were probably visible from a hundred yards. Shikamaru had in his hand a book on 'How to Master Chess and Your Opponent', it was his gift to Naruto.

Ino looked at it and sniffed, "You know he'll never read that right? Naruto can't possibly be interested in anything that has to do with patience and actual thought process."

Shikamaru simply shrugged "If he doesn't, oh well, if he does then maybe it will improve that part about patience and thought process. What about you? You know he's going to kill that little green root you got him right?"

Ino turned pink in the face, she was carrying a clay pot with what appeared to be a green stalk with a closed bud sitting atop it.

Chouji examined it closely for a moment "It doesn't look very impressive."

Ino wilted under Chouji's words, "Its one of my mother's creations, she says it only blooms on a special occasion. She wouldn't tell me what it was, she just said it would be perfect for Naruto."

Chouji looked up from the sorry excuse of a plant, "Your mom made it?" Ino instantly brightened at the chance to explain to Chouji how her mother was able to design her own breed of flowers by using chakra.

After she had finished the explanation and leaving a highly confused Chouji, she decided to comment on his present. "Your present was probably the best choice for him Chouji!"

Chouji was carrying a large box in both arms. On the front it said in big words, 'Make Your Own Homemade Ramen!' Chouji shrugged "Yeah, I know he's obsessed with ramen, so I figured he'd like this." Shikamaru shook his head, funny how both Chouji's and Naruto's interests ran so close together.

They hadn't walked much farther when they heard a deep barking from behind them. "Hey! Ino-pig wait up!" Ino spun around and was embraced by her best pink-haired friend. "Are you guys going to see Naruto too?" Sakura asked.

Ino nodded and showed her gift, "We got him homecoming gifts, what about you guys?"

Kiba grinned mischievously and squatted down to pet his wolf-sized dog, "Akamaru here has got a big slobbery kiss for our sorely missed Naruto-kun, don't we Akamaru?" Akamaru answered with a deep bark in agreement.

Shino displayed a glass case that was filled with pinned butterflies, some so colorful they resembled rainbows. "I went into the woods and gathered these for Naruto, he can hang it on his wall." Ino google-eyed the butterflies, "They're so colorful, I didn't even know some of these existed here in Konoha."

Ino then turned to Sakura, "And what did you get our number one short and loud ninja?" Sakura looked at Ino with knowing smile, "That's for me to know and you find out Ino-pig." Ino grinned wickedly "Oooh, forehead girl got Naruto some smoochy smoochy I think!" Sakura blushed at the suggestion, "No I didn't! its just something that both of us find some importance in. You wouldn't understand." And with that she stuck her nose in the air and strode past Ino towards Naruto's house. The others followed behind sniggering amongst themselves.

* * *

"**Rasengan!**" Naruto slammed the whirling vortex of energy into the boulder completely demolishing it. Lee-san had just been standing there a split-second ago. _Shit! He has **really** gotten faster._ Naruto heard the taijutsu master's voice behind him.

"Aha! Not bad Naruto-san, but you'll have to be faster than that if you wish to hit me!" With that Rock Lee charged Naruto and performed a sweep kick with his right leg, Naruto easily dodged it by ducking low, but Lee kept spinning and brought his foot back around for a second kick, it was so fast that Naruto didn't have time to even block, Lee's foot connected with Naruto's face and sent him skidding into a tree about twenty feet away. That was the third time Lee had sent Naruto flying.

Naruto got up quickly, on the look out for any follow up attacks, "I am impressed Naruto-san, you stand up when many would fall with such hits!" Naruto merely grinned, he was having the time of his life. Lee-san grinned too and charged again. Halfway to Naruto he suddenly seemed to become blurry and then disappeared from sight.

_Behind me!_ But when Naruto turned to look there was only a blur of what was Lee-san. "In front of you my friend." As Naruto turned he found another foot connecting with his face.

Naruto slowly got up again, his face was starting to get sore. _Fine, I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve to slow him down._ Lee charged again, but this time Naruto was ready, he had gathered as much charka that he could hold in the center of his body and Lee was almost on him he did something that would make Hyuuga Neji proud. He released all of the energy in a blast that emanated from every part of his body, Lee-san was in the air up above Naruto when the blast hit, he was now trying to force his way through the swirling vortex with his fist, just as Naruto had hoped. Naruto quickly did some hand seals and yelled "**Tejou no Jutsu!**" (Handshackle Technique) The swirling vortex, like a snake, wrapped itself around Lee-san's fist, the other end was attached to Naruto's hand.

Naruto grinned devilishly up at Lee-san, Lee gulped audibly. Naruto started to swing Lee-san around and around in a big circle as if getting ready for a hammer throw. Lee-san was struggling against the bond and trying to get back to the ground, but the bond of chakra held and Lee-san was too high up in the air to reach the ground. The spinning started to get faster and faster until Naruto was swinging so fast that he was leaning back balanced on one heel, using Lee-san's weight to keep him balanced and spinning. And then he released Lee-san when he thought he couldn't go any faster sending him hurtling towards a group of people who were standing at the entrance of the courtyard.

* * *

Chouji stepped in front of everyone and yelled "**Baika no Jutsu!" **causing him to grow into a twenty foot wide ball of muscle and fat. Just in time to catch the flying Rock Lee from crashing into anyone. Lee collided with Chouji's padded chest causing a shock wave to erupt and kick up the sand on the courtyard floor. "UMPF!" grunted Chouji eyes going wide. Rock Lee emerged from the cradle of Chouji's chest and landed on the ground trying to stand and falling to his knees, swaying from side to side with intense dizziness and motion sickness.

Chouji transformed back to normal, and held his chest, "Ow! Man that hurt! What the hell were you doing Lee!" Ino shrieked and ran over to Chouji and began to rub his chest for him, Chouji didn't seem to notice, again.

Lee stood up on wobbly legs still swaying form being spun around so much. "Naruto-san" Lee stuck his thumb behind him "And I" he pointed at himself "Were just having a friendly match to see how strong we had gotten." Lee giggled "It apparently got a little out of hand."

"Lee-san!" Shrieked Sakura, she ran over to Lee and put his arm over her shoulders to help steady him. "I am fine Sakura-chan, just a little dizzy. Hehe." Lee stood up straight as if to prove it, and promptly fell on his ass.

"Sorry about that Lee-san." Said a familiar yet deep voice from behind Sakura. Ino and all the others were staring open mouthed behind her. Sakura wheeled around "Naruto!" but where Naruto's head was supposed to be was Naruto's crotch. Sakura blushed and slowly began to look up. Past the pant line of the dark blue jeans, across a set of washboard abs, past a well developed chest and shoulders, up a muscular neck and into two very familiar sky blue eyes, topped by a mop of unruly blonde locks. He had apparently taken off his shirt before his sparring match with Lee-san. "Naruto?"

Even inner-Sakura was unnaturally quiet. _…wow…!_

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, and with that he pick her up off the ground and threw her into the air as if she was a child "EEEEK!" when she landed back in Naruto's arms she was greeted by lung-crushing hug "ugh!". Naruto didn't seem to notice, "I missed you Sakura-chan!"

Naruto put Sakura down who had by now turned beet red, she quickly squeaked out a "…good to see you too Naruto!" and then turned around and stiffly walked back to the others trying to hide her lobster-colored face. A white blur ran past her and tackled Naruto and began to lick his face without mercy.

"Akamaru! Umpf! Kiba… get your… dog… off of me!" Naruto spluttered the words trying to keep dog drool from entering his mouth. Kiba and the others were doubled-over in laughter. Kiba was rolling on the ground.

"Okay Akamaru, get your hairy butt back over here before Naruto decides to whip it!" Panted Kiba after he had gained some control.

Naruto scowled at Kiba, "I guess that was your gift to me huh? Figures you'd get me back for beating the crap out of you at the chuunin exam." Kiba rolled his eyes, "Ha. Ha. Very funny smart-ass." Naruto grinned to himself "Its good seeing you too Kiba."

Shikamaru shrugged, "Might as well get this over with so I can get back home and sleep." Naruto nodded his head "Come on then everyone back inside!" He made shooing gestures with his hands towards the house. Everyone gathered inside the main living room on the first floor, sitting on the many couches. "Damn! I have to say, your house is HUGE Naruto!" exclaimed Kiba. Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave an embarrassed smile, "Yeah, it sure is, I have no Idea why Obaa-chan gave it to me."

Ino and Sakura weren't paying any attention to the boy's conversation, instead they were still staring pop-eyed at Naruto's shirtless upper half.

Shikamaru noticed the bandages wrapped around Naruto's arms "I'm guessing those are from Lee-san? Well anyway, here's my gift, I don't expect you to read it or anything, but if you do it'll help you a lot on things like strategy-situations that you find in battles."

Naruto examined the book "Sweet! I've always wondered how you played that stupid game! Thanks Shikamaru!" Shikamaru rolled his eyes in exasperation and sat back down next to Chouji. Naruto was confused but grateful for Ino's gift "It's the thought that counts Ino-chan!" Ino sighed "yeah" and sat back down on the other side of Chouji. Naruto complimented Shino's gift, "Its awesome! I'll hang it on my wall!" Shino nodded, "I'm glad you like it Naruto-kun, its good to have you back home." Then of course Naruto was ecstatic over Chouji's gift. "Sa-Weet! You can make up your own flavors!" Chouji nodded his head vigorously "I've already got one, here I'll tell you my favorite recipe" with that he leaned over and whispered into Naruto's ear as his eyes began to grow wider and sparkle "Hell yeah! I've gotta try that one! Thanks a million Chouji!" Naruto and Chouji high-fived with two big goofy grins plastered on their faces.

Ino noticed Sakura standing off to the side, "Hey forehead girl! What about your mystery gift? Well?" Naruto looked around in surprise, "Huh? You got a gift for me Sakura-chan? And I thought being able to see you again was enough!"

Sakura blushed and nodded meekly then walked up to Naruto staring at the ground in front of her. Naruto looked down at her with concern etched onto his face, "What is it Sakura-chan?" Sakura reached in her pack that was slung on her back and slowly pulled out what looked to be a thick blade with a large ring on one end. Naruto's eyes widened in instant recognition, he took the weapon from Sakura's hands and flicked his wrist, causingthree more blades to unwind into what looked like a bladed windmill with the ring in the middle. It was a Fuuma Shuriken. More importantly, to Naruto, it was the Fuuma Shuriken used by Uchiha Sasuke on their first ever A-rank mission as a genin team.

Naruto looked down and saw tears streaking Sakura-chan's face. Slowly, realization dawned on Naruto.

They hadn't found Sasuke.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto had such sorrow and worry on his face that Sakura couldn't take it any longer. "Oh Naruto!" and she threw herself at Naruto and began to sob her pain into his chest.

"…Sakura-chan…" Naruto felt like crying himself, he had hoped that when he got back that Sasuke would be waiting and safe. He had fooled himself. He gently wrapped his arms around Sakura and let her cry out her sorrow, trying his best to keep his hidden.

The rest of the group had turned their faces from the dramatic scene out of embarrassment, even Akamaru hid his face in his paws. All except Ino who was sighing and gazing starry-eyed at the pair in front of her. Shikamaru coughed and Sakura-chan quickly pushed away from Naruto blushing and embarrassed at what she had just done. But when she looked into Naruto's eyes she realized that she had nothing to fear, he hadn't taken it the wrong way.

Naruto knew he had lost to Sasuke when it cam to Sakura-chan, he knew that long ago. And he saw that in her face just then. They were friends, very good friends now, but still just friends, he smiled sheepishly, letting her know he understood. If he couldn't have her as his girlfriend then he would help her deal with Sasuke, in whatever way that was.

Sakura was considering telling Naruto everything right then, despite her promise to Tsunade-sensei. When Shikamaru and Chouji stood up. "Well its two o'clock, I'm going home and I plan on sleeping the rest of the day." He said the last part while glaring at Ino. She rolled her eyes in annoyance, "Sure. Whatever."

Naruto's head snapped up. "Two o'clock!" He grabbed all his gifts and put them in a pile next to one of the couches, and pulled on his orange shirt while running towards the front door. "Hey sorry guys! But I'll uh, see you tomorrow I guess… later!" and with that he ran out of the house and towards the front gate.

Sakura yelled after him "Naruto! Where are you going!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder while waving goodbye, "I've gotta go see Hinata-chan! Its important! Later!" And exited the front lawn and began to run down the street towards the Hyuuga clan house.

Ino frowned with confusion, "What's so important about Hinata-chan that he has to run out on us at only two o'clock in the afternoon?"

Shikamaru sighed and walked down the steps form the front door heading towards the gate and ultimately… bed. He sighed again and looked at the clouds in the sky, was he the only one that ever noticed these things?

* * *

Alright second chapter complete! Next chapter we get to see Hinata's reaction to Naruto's homecoming. Hope you like it so far. and if so, or even if not, send me a review. Puh'LEEZ! I really want to know what you guys think! 


	3. Show Me Your Strength

Man, I have serious sleep problems, I think I might be lightly insomniac or something. WOOT! just finished chapter 3. Things are starting to get interesting I guess you could say. Thank you for the reviews everyone! But I still need more if anyone out there wants to keep this story going. (nah, I like it, I'll probably keep typing it anyway, but I didn't say that!)

Hope you enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 3: Show Me Your Strength.**

Naruto ran as fast as he could, he hoped he remembered where the Hyuuga house was. Luckily it wasn't to far away from his own 'clan' house. He had gotten back to Konoha somewhere between seven and eight in the morning. He had been planning on convincing Hinata-chan to join him in the chuunin exam and start their training that day. However, he had gotten caught up in exploring his new home, then Lee-san had come and challenged him to a 'friendly' one on one sparring match, that turned a little rough halfway through. Then everyone else from his graduating class had come and given him homecoming gifts, including Lee-san, all except Hinata-chan. It was already past two in the afternoon and it would be evening soon. He had to convince Hinata-chan now! So that they could get some training in before she had to go home.

Naruto spotted the walled compound that was the hyuuga clan house. Above the double iron gate was painted the Hyuuga clan symbol of the teardrop shaped flame. He silently shouted with joy that he had found the house so quickly.

He came up to the iron-bound gate and noticed it was locked, there was a doorbell complete with an intercom next to the gate. _I don't have time for this!_ He yelled mentally, he remembered going to see lords with Jaraiya, he was apparently well known and liked by anyone who knew of the 'Come Come Paradise' books. The lords had the same set-up, a gate with an intercom, then you would push the doorbell, talk to a door servant through the intercom who asked for an appointment and said they would check back if you did have one. Naruto remembered waiting for up to an hour outside a lord's house before they were allowed even past the gate. That had been with the 'famous' Jaraiya, who was invited. Naruto was not famous, more like infamous, and he didn't have an appointment.

He jumped the wall.

Hoping they didn't care too much about security, Naruto dashed to what appeared to him to be the main building, walked up calmly and knocked on the door. Inside he could hear someone jump up and run to the door. It was answered by a middle-aged woman who came to about Naruto's chest in height. She had the white eyes of a hyuuga, and the seal of the branch family tattooed onto her forehead.

She looked up at Naruto with shock and fear-filled eyes, "What are you doing inside the premises! The gate was locked! Hiashi-sama isn't seeing anyone for another hour!" She was apparently panicking, thinking he was either a robber or a visitor that she had forgotten to put in her date book.

Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head, "I'm not here to see Hinata-chan's father, I'm here to see Hinata-chan! Sorry, it's kinda important, so I didn't have time to wait for someone to let me in, so I, uhh… kinda jumped the umm, wall. Sorry! But you gotta understand it _is_ important and I didn't have a lot of time."

The woman calmed down rather quickly, then got a glint in her eye and smiled knowingly, "Ahhh. I see." She then proceeded to look Naruto up and down, as if inspecting him. Naruto suddenly remembered that all the Hyuuga's could use the Byakugan, and turned scarlet red and tried his best to cover his 'vital' areas with his hands. What was wrong with this woman?

The woman finished her inspection, "Not bad if you ask me, I'd say you're a pretty good one for her first. Young and fit, that's how I like'em myself, haven't had to worry about that though ever since I got married, ah well. Be a dear and stay right here, I'll send someone to see to you." And she opened the door the rest of the way to let him in, then quickly disappeared down a hallway.

'Her first? Marriage?' What was that old bat talking about? And who was this 'her' that she was referring to? Naruto didn't have enough time to dwell on his thoughts, for coming into the room was not Hinata, but Hizashi, her father.

Hiashi stopped halfway into the room, his eyes widened only slightly in recognition. "Uzumaki I presume, so it was true that you have actually returned to Konoha." His eyes narrowed, "What brings you to my household, and without proper invitation?"

_Those eyes…_Hiashi was staring hard at Naruto with eyes as cold as ice. He had seen those eyes before, the coldness and accusation they held, almost all of the village elders, and anyone else who could remember the attack of the Kyuubi looked at him that way. Naruto was only an inch or two taller than Hiashi, but the Hyuuga lord made Naruto feel as if he was only half his height. Hiashi's eyes only narrowed even more at the lack of response, "I ask again, what was so important to you, that you had to jump my household wall to get here… Uzumaki?"

A well of anger began to rise in Naruto, like a fire starting in his gut and working its way up his chest, when Hiashi had paused in saying his name he could almost hear him say 'Kyuubi'. He suddenly didn't feel so much smaller anymore.

Naruto stood up straighter, trying to make himself taller, "I came here to see Hinata-chan. It's about the chuunin exam I want her to enter so that she can pass it with me and become a chuunin."

Hiashi was silent for a moment before giving his answer, "No." Naruto's eyes widened in anger, "What the hell do you mean No!" Hiashi grimaced, "No, as in, Hinata is not taking the chuunin exam, I will not allow her to disgrace this family again."

Naruto could only gape open-mouth at what the Hyuuga lord just said, "What! I thought you would want Hinata-chan to get stronger so that she could be a strong heir!" What was wrong with this guy?

Hiashi stared at Naruto with icy patience, "Hinata is no longer the heir to the Hyuuga clan, I have relieved her of that position and would have put her in the branch house if I could. I have appointed my second daughter, Hanabi, as my successor."

Naruto's anger was beginning to get close to its limit, "Why would you do something like that?" he said through gritted teeth. Hiashi merely stated his reply in cold indifference, "Because she is weak, not only was she defeated by a member of the branch family, she failed her second attempt at achieving chuunin rank. She chose not to try again. She has dishonored this family and she has dishonored me, she is not fit to be the heir to the Hyuuga clan."

Naruto closed his eyes, trembling with anger and clenching his fists at his sides. If he was a younger Naruto, a less mature Naruto, he would have thoughtlessly attacked Hinata's father and probably been soundly beaten, if not killed. Naruto raised his eyes to meet Hiashi's, he would not look away. "Hinata… is not… weak." He was still trembling and trying to talk through his grinding teeth.

Hiashi smirked, and Naruto realized the man did not smile often for a very good reason, he was twice as intimidating by just giving a small 'half-smile'. Naruto did not take his eyes away form Hiashi's though. "You truly believe that don't you? You truly and foolishly believe that."

Naruto kept his gaze on Hiashi's, "I don't believe it… I know it." His anger was beginning to recede, replaced by a rock hard determination. He would not leave until he had talked to Hinata-chan, even if he had to fight to stay inside the grounds.

Hiashi noticed the look in Naruto's eyes and his smirk dropped, replaced by his normal scowl. They stared at each other for what seemed to be hours before Hiashi spoke again. "Very well, she can do as she wishes, it is no concern of mine, she is weak and if she wishes to embarrass herself than so be it. But she will not wear the crest of the Hyuuga family if she enters the chuunin exam, she will not shame my house again." And with that he shifted his gaze behind Naruto, "Neji, escort the Uzumaki trash out to the gate and then retrieve Hinata for him." He then turned around with a flourish of his robes and strode down the hall he had come from.

Naruto glared at the retreating back of Hyuuga Hiashi until he disappeared behind a corner. He then turned around to see a very familiar face calmly watching him. Neji was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his ankles crossed. Neji wore a fishnet shirt with the chuunin vest worn over it. He still had the bandages on his arms like Lee-san, and he wore black legging that were wrapped with more bandages form the knee down. He was nearly as tall as Naruto, about the same height as Lee-san. His hair had gotten longer, pulled back into a wrist-thick braid that almost reached the ground. Neji only nodded his head, pushed himself from the wall and headed out the door, apparently expecting Naruto to follow him. Naruto caught up to him and the two men walked in silence until they were outside the front gate.

Neji turned to Naruto and the two stared at each other for nearly five minutes before Neji spoke. "I apologized."

Naruto shook his head in confusion "What?" Neji looked intently at Naruto, "I apologized to Hinata for what I did at the chuunin exam. I wanted you to know that."

Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You apologized to Hinata-chan." Neji nodded his head in confirmation. "Alright then, I forgive you Neji."

Neji's eyes widened in surprise, "Just like that? You forgive me?" Naruto nodded his head, "Yep. You're the type I guess who would only apologize if he meant it." Neji thought about this, and nodded in agreement. "I did mean it Naruto, and I want to apologize to you as well since I didn't get the chance before you left. I am sorry, you were right and I was wrong, I may not be able to change some parts of my life, but I don't have to be chained down by a perceived fate, I can change my destiny, all I have to do is try. And I would like to start over Naruto, I would like us to be, uhh, friends. You are different than what I first thought of you, I think it would be worth getting to know you better."

Naruto was stunned, he had never expected Neji to apologize to him, much less offer to be friends. It took him a moment to recover enough to reply, "Uhh… of course Neji, I forgive you. And I think it would be great if we were friends. Speaking of, remember that all around defense thing you did on me during the chuunin exam?" Neji nodded "Yes, the Heavenly Divine Spin technique, it was rather difficult for me to learn. What about it?"

Naruto grinned, and scratched the back of his head "Hehe, well you see, Ero-sennin apparently dated some chick a while back who was part of the Hyuuga clan, and she wasn't too strict about sharing techniques with Jaraiya…" Neji's eyes widened in shock. Naruto caught Neji's look and began shaking his head "Don't worry! She didn't tell him about the Byakugan! But she did tell him how to do the Heavenly Spin thingy and he taught it to me, and well I can do it."

Neji could only gape in shock at Naruto, the fact that Naruto could perform that technique was impressive. Naruto scratched the back of his head "Don't worry I won't tell anyone else how to do it. I promise. But could you not tell Hizashi about it, I'm guessing I would need Jaraiya to protect me if he found out."

Neji frowned, "I won't tell him, in trusting that you will not tell anyone else. I hear that trust is a key factor in friendships."

Naruto nodded his head vigorously in attempts to stem Neji's worry, "I swear I won't, no one will hear from me how to do the, whatever it is, technique unless its another Hyuuga."

Neji looked into Naruto's eyes, "I suppose I don't have to use the Byakugan in order to tell that your speaking the truth, very well Naruto, I will not tell Hizashi-sama of this."

Naruto sighed in relief, then got a serious look in his eyes. "Why is Hizashi being so… well… cruel? I don't get it, he's Hinata-chan's father, he should be supporting her, I don't even have a family and I know that."

Neji sighed, "Ever since the chuunin exam, Hiashi-sama has grown kinder towards me, for he felt pride in my skills, I am after all his brother's son. But he was disappointed with Hinata, even if I was so skilled I was still part of the branch house. In his eyes Hinata should've been stronger and able to beat me. You have to understand Naruto, the clan is everything to Hiashi-sama, and he will do everything and _anything_ to make sure it stays the way it is, even if it hurts the clan. He believes strength lies in tradition and so he will never sway form that path." Neji sighed, his eyes sad before continuing, "At first, everything was fine, but as Hiashi-sama began to pay more attention to Hanabi and me he grew more cold and distant towards Hinata. I had already apologized to her, and it hurt seeing her treated this way. Then after she failed the second chuunin exam Hiashi-sama renounced Hinata as the heir by announcing Hanabi as the heir in full ceremony. Hinata was crushed, not that she desired to be the heir, but because of her father's rejection. I and her former teammates have been her only comfort. She has rarely left the household, only from the insistence of Kiba and Shino will she come out."

Naruto was trembling again, the anger returned in full force. How could he? That bastard! Damn him for treating Hinata-chan like she was trash! Naruto then remembered what Hizashi had called him, '_Uzumaki trash_', and suddenly his anger was replaced by that rock hard determination. He would show that Hizashi what trash could really do. He looked up at Neji who was grinning at his new friend's expression, "Go get Hinata-chan for me will you?"

Neji smiled one of his very few genuine smiles and nodded his head as he went through the gate to retrieve Hinata.

* * *

Naruto was waiting impatiently leaning against the wall next to the gate, it had been nearly half an hour. How long could it take for Neji to convince Hinata-chan to come out? He was considering jumping the wall again and searching for her himself when he heard foot steps and two familiar voices coming towards the gate from inside the wall. 

"Ano, w-why won't you tell me who it is Neji-niisan?"

"Trust me Hinata, it's a surprise that you'll absolutely _love._"

Naruto realized Neji hadn't told Hinata that he was the one who had come to see her. He never thought that Neji had the capacity to be a prankster. Naruto decided to give her a surprise hello. He jumped on top of the wall just as the two Hyuuga's came through the gate.

Naruto eyes widened at seeing Hinata. She almost hadn't changed one bit, but she had definitely grown, she was almost as tall as Neji, only a couple inches shorter, and her hair was the same bowl cut, but the two strips of hair that framed her face were much longer and nearly came to her stomach. She wore a baggy zipped-up jacket and baggy pants, effectively hiding her entire figure. She swung her head from side to side, "Neji-niisan, I-I don't see anybody. Can we go back inside now?" She turned to face Neji, putting her back to Naruto.

_Perfect_. Naruto jumped down silently directly behind her. "Hinata-chan?"

Hinata stiffened to the point that she resembled a wooden board. Neji was attempting to suppress his grin from turning into a full blown smile. Hinata, slowly, ever so slowly, turned around to face the towering figure behind her.

She couldn't believe it. Three years, three years since she last saw him, leaving with Jaraiya, his back to her as she hid in the shadows, wanting to say goodbye before he left but unable to bring herself to do so. Three years, and now the man of her dreams, of every single one of her most secret fantasies was standing before her.

He was so tall! And muscular! Hinata blushed even more than she already was at the thought. And he still had that self-confident grin and those beautiful golden locks that she had always secretly wanted to run her hands through. And his eyes, those eyes with irises the color of the noonday sky were looking at her with the utmost joy. _He's actually happy to see me._ The thought was too much.

Hinata fainted.

* * *

When Hinata-chan feinted Naruto didn't know what to think, had he surprised her maybe a little too much? He reached out of reflex and caught her in his arms before she hit the ground. He looked at the sleeping figure that was resting in his arms, _She's really peaceful sleeping, even pretty…_Naruto realized what he was thinking and blushed, quickly diverting his thoughts and turning to Neji, "Sorry?" 

Neji shook his head, "Don't worry, I'm not surprised that this happen, I was just hoping it wouldn't. C'mon, if your going to convince her that she needs to take the chuunin exam, lets get her away from the clan house before she comes to."

Naruto nodded in agreement. But as Neji started to walk away he began to panic, "Wait! Neji! What am I supposed to do?" He gestured with his head at the sleeping woman in his arms. Neji simply shrugged "Looks like you gotta carry her, come on, I know a good place you two can talk."

Naruto looked down at Hinata-chan, then sighed and shrugged, oh well. He put one arm behind her shoulders and one underneath her knees and started to follow Neji.

It was ok at first, she was pretty light, but then the sleeping Hinata began to snuggle against his shoulder. Naruto was turning beet red and was walking stiffly, trying his hardest to keep his thoughts from what the sleeping figure was doing in his arms.

Hinata awoke from her dream of seeing Naruto return and him actually being happy to see her, when she noticed what she was snuggling was not a pillow or a bed, but a very firm chest. Her pale eyes slowly looked up to be met by sky blue ones. "Hey sleepy head! Rise and shine!" Naruto grinned down at her.

Hinata squeaked and fainted again.

Naruto rolled his eyes and sighed under his breathe, at least she wasn't snuggling him anymore.

* * *

After about fifteen minutes of walking through some woods, they came to very familiar place to Naruto. They were at the training posts, the first time Hinata-chan had truly held a conversation with him and he started to consider her as one of the people he held precious. 

Neji gestured toward the ground, "Go ahead and lay her down here, I'm going to go and do some chores. I'll be back in a few hours, this way you two can get some privacy and you might have a better chance of convincing her if no one else is around." Neji began to walk back the way they came.

"Neji wait! What if she faints again?"

Neji yelled over his shoulder while walking away "Then just wait for her to wake back up! She has to stop feinting sometime!"

Naruto growled, but complied. He lay Hinata down on the dry grass and sat a couple feet away waiting for her to wake up. He didn't have to wait long, she began to stir and sit up, rubbing at her eyes. _Please don't let her faint again when she sees me._

"Hinata-chan? Hey, its me Naruto. You remember me?" Naruto spoke softly, hoping not to startle her.

Hinata looked up very slowly, "N-Na-Naruto-kun?" she said so softly that Naruto had to strain his ears to hear her.

"Yeah its me, good you didn't faint this time. Sorry about surprising you back at your house, I didn't know I'd scare you so much." Naruto scratched the back of his head as he apologized.

Hinata smiled meekly and began to twiddle her fingers while staring at her feet, an old habit she had when ever she got nervous. "I-its okay N-Naruto-kun, you just s-surprised me, that's all." Then Hinata noticed where she was. "W-why are we here?" She was blushing furiously, it hadn't been a dream after all, he had been happy to see her and he had carried her in his arms.

Naruto grinned, "So that I could talk to you, I carried you while Neji showed me the way here, he left to do some shores so we could talk."

Hinata's heart jumped and began to beat faster, Naruto-kun wanted to talk with _her_? He _wanted_ to talk with her? Hinata froze, her heart pounding so hard she was afraid Naruto-kun could hear it. "W-w-w-wha-what a-a-about?"

Naruto got a serious look, making Hinata's heart skip a beat, he was so handsome. "I want you to take the chuunin exam. Obaa-chan's already registered me for it and its in seven days. I know you can do it Hinata-chan, and together we'll definitely pass!"

Hinata began to panic, "B-but father, he'll n-never let me! Not unless I d-don't wear the clan c-crest! He would never f-f-forgive m-me…" She was fighting to keep back the tears.

Naruto frowned, "So what!" he yelled standing up suddenly, causing Hinata to jump in fear that she had angered him somehow, "So what! Who the hell cares what that dick-head thinks!"

Hinata couldn't believe her ears, Naruto-kun was insulting her father! The man who could probably kill with one cold glance. The man who's power she had always feared her entire life. "N-Naruto-kun, y-you must not say such things…"

But Naruto just barreled over her reply, he was shouting now and pacing back and forth, "Yes I must! Your father treats you like trash Hinata-chan! You deserve better! You may think you're not good enough, but I _know_ you are, you are strong Hinata-chan! I've seen it! So what if you didn't beat Neji! So what if you didn't pass the second exam! I believe your strong because you kept getting up, never staying down! That's strength Hinata-chan! And if your father can't realize that then I say screw him and his family crest! I say try again! Come on Hinata-chan! Show me that your strong!"

Naruto's voice quieted and he held out his hand for Hinata "Please don't make me out to be a liar Hinata-chan." And with that he smiled his confident grin waiting patiently with his hand extended down to her.

Hinata couldn't believe it, she was on the verge of tears, but for the first time in three years they were not tears of sadness, they were tears of pure and utter joy. He believed in her! He truly believed that she was strong, he had confidence that she could feel seeping into her body, and into her bones. And then she found herself thinking things she had never dared thought before. So what? Who cared what her father thought anymore? He apparently didn't care about what she thought or even how she felt, he only cared about the clan way of life. Who cared if she didn't wear the clan crest to the exam, its not like her father would give a damn if she passed or failed anyway!

Hinata suddenly realized what she was thinking and blushed deeply in shame, but when she looked up into those oh so blue eyes, she knew she had made up her mind. Joy exploded inside of her like she had never felt before, he not only believed in her, he wanted _her_ of all people by his side during the chuunin exam.

A full-blown genuine smile bloomed on Hinata-chan's face like a flower, tears were rolling down her eyes and she was laughing. Naruto couldn't help but smile and laugh too, he had never seen her smile like that before, he had to get her to do it more often, she was really pretty when she did. Then unexpectedly she threw herself past his outstretched hand and into his chest wrapping arms around him and burying her face in his chest.

"Yes! Yes, I will take the chuunin exam with you!" Then she suddenly realized what she had done on pure impulse. She was hugging him. She instantly turned as red as a lobster, but before she could retreat or stammer an apology Naruto wrapped his arms around her and picked her up, "That's great Hinata-chan! I'm glad you're going to be there with me!"

Hinata was so stunned at the fact that the man of her dreams was hugging her that she couldn't even think of hugging him back before he put her down. "Alright then Hinata, we got some work to do! We gotta train everyday before the exam starts! So lets start now before it gets dark, we still got plenty of light left." They did actually it was only four o'clock.

Hinata was still blushing. "Ano, wh-what are we going to be working on Naruto-kun?" She was twiddling her fingers again. Everyday! She was going to be with Naruto-kun all day everyday for the next week it was like a dream come true. It wouldn't be like school, he would actually talk to her and focus his attention on her! It was almost too much.

Naruto grinned "Well, I've been training for three years, and you almost quite being a shinobi for just as long… so, we'll be mostly working on your techniques and stuff like that!"

Hinata paled, she was happy and terrified at the same time. He would really be paying attention to her now, but that meant he would see her mess up! She couldn't bear the thought of disappointing him.

Naruto didn't seem to notice though, "Alright, I know your clan does the jyuuken style of fighting, but what I guess, from watching your fight with Neji, is that your not very good at close-quarters combat, am I right so far?"

Hinata wilted under Naruto-kun's criticism, but nodded anyway "H-hai."

Naruto nodded "Alright then, I'll just have to teach you something different that will make you better!"

Hinata looked up surprised, "W-what are you going to teach me Naruto-kun?" she whispered anxiously, she didn't want to disappoint him by failing at learning what he was going to show her.

Naruto grinned, "I got this awesome idea for you Hinata-chan! Alright, when you use jyuukan your making a spike of charka that's used to damage your opponent's chakra system when you make contact with them, right?" Hinata nodded, surprised at Naruto's knowledge of her clan's style of fighting. Naruto was starting to get excited "Okay, okay! Say that I could teach you how to shoot those spikes of chakra at a distance! That way you wouldn't have to worry about being fast enough to hit the right spots on your opponent, you could take your time and aim. Plus you wouldn't have to worry about being hit, you could take down enemies from a distance! Wouldn't that be great!"

Hinata eyes widened in shock. Use her jyuuken from a distance? That had never been done before! "B-but Naruto-kun, how could I do that? When I release the my chakra it d-dissipates almost instantly…"

Naruto laughed, " Don't worry Hinata-chan! I got it figured all out!" Naruto grabbed a stick and began to draw in the dirt, gesturing toward Hinata to come closer so she could see. She slowly creeped closer bending over his shoulder so she could see.

Naruto had drawn two figures, one was apparently using jyuuken, making the chakra spike very visible, the second figure was launching the chakra spike from their palm. "Okay normal jyuuken." Naruto pointed at the first figure, "What happens when you try to throw a jyuuken chakra spike." Naruto took his finger and erased the chakra spike from the second figure "it dissipates, just like you said." Hinata nodded, seeing that Naruto continued, "All right, well I figured that if you put spin to it, it would be able to last longer while flying through the air. Kinda like a bullet, the faster it spins the farther it flies." Naruto redrew the erased chakra spike, except this time drawing a spiral around to show that it spun.

Understanding dawned on Hinata "Y-you could teach me how to do that Naruto-kun?" If she could do this her jyuuken would be nearly unstoppable.

Naruto grinned wide, "I sure can! Its just like when I trained to learn Rasengan. Except without step two or three, I'm just going to teach you how to spin your chakra in your palm as fast you can." And with that Naruto stood up and pulled a balloon out of his pocket, then he did a couple of hand seals and whispered "Water gathering jutsu." The water from the ground began to rise up and formed into one stream and poured into the balloon filling it up. Then he tied it off and handed it to Hinata-chan, "Okay Hinata-chan, focus your chakra into the water in the balloon and try to spin it as fast as you can. You'll know you got when the balloon is almost as flat as a pancake."

Hinata held the balloon delicately in her palm, her heart was pounding at a thousand beats a minute. There he was, standing there expectantly, waiting for her to do as he asked. She didn't want to disappoint him, but what if she couldn't do it? What if she messed up so much that he gave up on her? The thought was too much for her to take.

Hinata collapsed on her knees sobbing, holding the water balloon to her chest. She wasn't going to be able to do it! Her father was right she wasn't good enough, she was a failure, she had failed him and now she was failing Naruto-kun because she knew she couldn't do it.

Naruto stood dumbfounded at the sight of the crying girl crouched at his feet. He never knew what to do when a girl cried around him. He was tempted to runaway out fear of messing up what ever he tried to do. But he felt that that wasn't the right thing to do here.

So he slowly got to his knees and placed his hand on Hinata-chan and began to rub her back. "Hinata-chan… what's wrong?" Through choked sobs he could hear her reply "I-I'm s-sorry…N-Naruto-kun…I-I c-can't d-do it! I l-let you d-down!"

Naruto suddenly felt the very strong urge to protect Hinata-chan, from well, everything, her father her fears and worries and anyone else who would hurt her.

Without thinking Naruto slid his arms around Hinata, lifted her so she was sitting up and hugged her to him so the she was crying into his shoulder.

Hinata froze, Naruto-kun was hugging her again, but this time it was different. She suddenly felt very warm and she had a feeling of security and safety. She soon felt that she didn't want to cry anymore. He hadn't turned away, calling her a failure, he had instead showed her that he cared and that he still believed in her.

Hinata felt her arms wrap around Naruto as she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat there like that holding on to each other, for what seemed like forever to Hinata, before Naruto spoke, "You can do it Hinata-chan. I know you can, you just have to keep trying." Naruto paused "Trust me."

Hinata was overwhelmed with confidence and something she had not felt in a long time, determination. "Th-thank you Naruto-kun." Naruto pulled away from her so she could see his face, and smiled. "No problem Hinata-chan, you're my friend, and I know you can do it."

Hinata was shocked and then a sense of joy seeped in to replace it, _friend_, he had just called her _friend_, this was more than she could ever hope for, she thought she was just going to be his teammate, and she was planning on being the best one she could. But he had called her friend! It was what she had always wanted, not what she secretly hoped for, but what she hoped someday would happen. Tears began to well up in her eyes again.

Naruto almost panicked when he saw the tears in Hinata-chan's eyes, he didn't want her to cry again, but then he saw her smiling. She really was pretty when she smiled.

Hinata stood up on her own, "Alright lets g-get this balloon as flat as pancake!"

Naruto jumped up, "Yeah Hinata-chan! That's what I'm talking about!"

Hinata blushed when Naruto smiled at her, "Lets get to training!"

* * *

I said it before, ans I'll say it again, Review please:) 


	4. Preparations, Emotions

Thank you again everyone for the reviews. I especially want to thank **comanderlink, **who's advice I will be following as I change this stories rateing to"T", I'll switch it back to "M" once I get to the really messy parts.

Oh and as I was informed by the **The White Dwarf**, Hiashi is the name of Hinata's father, not Hizashi who is the dead father of Neji. They're both twins and I mix them up every once in awhile. I apologize for that, and will correct my mistake in later chapters.

Thank you again, and I warn you that there's quite a bit of fluff in this one, enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 4: Preparations, Emotions...**

Hinata lay in her bed unable to sleep, she couldn't stop thinking about the day before. Naruto-kun had proclaimed his friendship to her and they had _hugged_. The mere thought made Hinata squirm and let out an involuntary giggle. Those thoughts had been running through her head all through their training session and throughout the rest of the evening. Especially when he had walked her home and had said goodbye, they didn't hug but Naruto-kun had said to meet him outside his front gate at eight a.m. in the morning so they could start training early and get some serious work done on her new technique through out the rest of the day.

She had been upset at first at the fact that she could barely get the water to spin in the balloon at first. But when she was about to break down again, thinking that all her hope had just been demolished, Naruto-kun had just came up and patted her back and said she was doing great. Her doubts had been instantly erased, and her newly found bit of confidence returned, though she did blush quite a bit at his touch, even if it was just a pat on the back.

Naruto-kun had said it took him longer to get as far as she had. And so the rest of the hours had passed with her intently concentrating on the water balloon and Naruto-kun patiently watching only a few feet away. At times she would become conscious of Naruo-kun's closeness and the fact that his attention was purely on her, or thoughts of them hugging would intrude and she would have to start over again because the water lost its velocity. But that didn't stop her from trying, not this time, not with Naruto-kun standing by and having the utmost confidence in her no matter how many times she messed up.

Finally when the sun had sunk halfway down the horizon, they decided to call it a night and head home. She had gotten to the point where the balloon was violently swishing from side to side and had begun to warp. He had offered to walk her home because he wanted to make sure that she got home ok. She had agreed, but reluctantly, what would they talk about? She didn't need to worry about it during the training because they were only focusing on getting her techniques down. But now as they walked through the golden haze of late evening, their shadows grown long in front of them, they walked in an awkward silence, Naruto-kun trying to find something to talk about and her trying to find the courage to start a conversation.

* * *

They walked in silence, Naruto felt a little awkward, he had offered to walk her home, even though it was only fifteen minute walk, and now he couldn't find anything to say to her. He was feeling kinda… weird, he couldn't explain it and he didn't know why.

Hinata was having an internal struggle, more like an internal war actually. She had so many things to say to him, and yet she couldn't bring herself to say even the most discreet things, like 'how do you think I did today' or 'are we going to train tomorrow?' She didn't know what was wrong with her that she couldn't bring herself to just open her mouth.

Before both of them knew it they could see the front gate to the Hyuuga household. She wanted say goodbye, she wanted to say anything, just something to get rid of this silence. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, so instead of making herself look like a fool just standing there in silence waiting for something to happen, she turned and started to walk slowly and stiffly back to her house. But she had only taken three steps when the worst

that could happen, happened.

She tripped.

Naruto stood there awkwardly, he wanted to say goodbye, but he didn't know how to bring himself to do it. Should he say it? Give her a handshake or a pat on the back? Or should he hug her like they did early that afternoon? Naruto almost blushed at that thought, he was thinking that he might of enjoyed that a little too much. Damn Jariaya! His perverseness was apparently rubbing off on him. But then Hinata-chan turned and started to walk towards her house, her hands in her the pockets of her baggy jacket. She had only gone a couple of steps when she tripped on the hem of her overly baggy pants. She was going to fall straight on her face. Naruto did the only thing he could he lunged and dived in front of her to catch her.

_Oh my gods_. Naruto had his arms around her and pinning her arms to her sides, and she was _laying_ on _top_ of him. "Hinata-chan are you ok?" Hinata had gone as stiff as a board. Her hands were still in her pockets and as long as Naruto-kun's arms were around her she couldn't push herself off of him. She felt a heat that she had never felt before start to rise from her stomach and encompass her entire being, she was blushing so furiously that her entire body had to be red. She began to squirm, trying to get herself off of him as quickly as possible.

Naruto had caught her before she hit the ground, but then she started to squirm in his arms, causing him to turn beet red as she moved against his body. "Uhh… Hinata-chan? Could you… uhh, not do that please?"

Hinata froze, realizing what she was doing. Embarrassment overlapped by pure horror filled her to the brim. Tears began to leak from her eyes, "N-Na-Naruto-kun, I-I am so s-sorry!" She tried hiding her face so he couldn't see her tears, but that only ended up with her snuggling his chest. She couldn't believe she was messing up so badly, she had finally gotten the love of her life as a friend who believed in her, and now here she was making herself out to be a complete klutz and fool, how could she expect him forgive her for this? The tears began to come faster and her body was shaking with her silent sobbing.

Naruto was stupefied, she was crying again. Damn it! Why did he keep making her cry? She must think that he was a real asshole or something now. He had made her cry twice in only the span of a few hours. Naruto sat up with her in his arms, "Hinata-chan why are you sorry? I'm the one who made you cry."

Hinata stopped her sobbing at what Naruto-kun had just said. She looked up at him, her puffy, tear-filled eyes meeting his bright blue ones, so filled with concern that she almost hated herself more for making him worry. "N-Naruot-kun, you d-did not make me cry. I j-just thought you were upset wi-with me…"

Naruto began to laugh with relief sudden realization dawning on him, as Hinata-chan looked up at him a mixed expression of shock and confusion. "I'm not upset with you Hinata-chan! Everyone trips, its not like it's a bad thing or something… even I trip some times." Naruto gave a small laugh at that, "Heh, yeah I can be sort of… well, clumsy sometimes."

Hinata stared up at the sheepishly smiling man with obvious disbelief, Naruot-kun, clumsy? "I-I don't think your clumsy Naruto-kun."

Naruto looked down into those white eyes and saw that she was being completely serious. "Oh. Well… I am sometimes. So don't go thinking you're the only one okay? 'Cause everyone is sometimes." Hinata nodded her head very slowly. "Oh and another thing Hinata-chan, don't ever think I'm upset with you, you're the type of person that I can really like, I don't think I could ever be upset with you. Okay?" He was apparently expecting an answer.

Hinata had to swallow down more tears before they could surface again. Hinata looked away blushing instead and quickly nodded her head.

Naruto waited until she nodded her head, "Good." And with that Naruto slowly got up, making sure that he didn't rub up against Hinata-chan in anyway that could be deemed as 'wrong', and picked her up with him setting her on her feet in front of him. He had his hands on her waist for a moment before he realized how he was holding her. His hands quickly flew away from her, one behind his back and one behind his head, smiling and blushing the entire time, trying to make it seem like nothing had happened. Hinata-chan was staring at her feet twiddling her fingers and blushing, she had a ghost of smile of her lips though.

"Well Hinata-chan today you did really great I'd have to say, we'll work on it more tomorrow, can you meet me at this address?" He reached into his pockets on his jeans and handed her a piece of paper, "Its just a little bit past your house, its not hard to find trust me."

Hinata was ecstatic, everything had only seemed to be dream, especially the fact that she would be able to see him everyday. But now it was made apparent that she wasn't dreaming, he really did want to train with her everyday for the next seven days. Hinata was at loss for words and so she simply nodded her head.

Naruto grinned, "Oh and before I go. Umm, you know you wouldn't trip so often if you didn't wear such baggy pants. You should try wearing shorts or something, it would be easier to train in." Hinata-chan looked at the ground and nodded very slowly twiddling her fingers, "O-okay, I'll see what I c-can do."

Naruto smiled and started walking back towards his house, he turned around so he was walking backwards, waving goodbye, "See you tomorrow Hinata-chan! Remember eight a.m.!"

Hinata tried her best to smile and gave a weak wave in return, he then turned around and began to sprint home. Hinata must of stood there for half an hour, staring at the piece of paper he had given her before she walked to her house. She must of memorized every line on that one piece of paper.

* * *

She lay on her bed, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other gently holding the piece of paper he had given her only a couple of hours ago. She blushed at the memory of her tripping, but for some reason she couldn't stop playing the scene in her head.

She realized it was getting late, and that she really needed to go to sleep if she was going to get up early and train with Naruto-kun.

So she turned on her side and snuggled into the pillow, inwardly smiling as she let the thoughts of her time with Naruto-kun lull her into a dream filled sleep.

* * *

She was standing out front of a house complex that was nearly as large as her own. This was Naruto-kun's house? Last she heard he lived in a small apartment all by himself. When did he get house, not only that, an old 'clan' house? He must of gotten it when he had come back yesterday.

She had arrived an hour early, just to make sure she was on time. As each minute dragged by though, she grew more and more convinced that he wasn't going to come out. She thought about going onto the premises, but he had told her he would meet her out front, so she instantly banished that thought. Finally as the time came to only a couple of minutes before eight a.m. Hinata was pacing back and forth, agitated out of her mind and on the verge of tears, thinking that she had fooled herself into believing that he really wanted to train with her. When she heard the gate open and there with his back turned to her busily closing the gate was Naruto-kun.

Naruto turned around to see Hinata-chan patiently standing and waiting for him. "Hey Hinata-chan! I thought you'd be a little…later." He had just caught site of what she was wearing. She still had the baggy jacket on, but underneath the jacket he could just see the hem of a pair of jean shorts. Really, really short shorts. She had worn shorts at the last chuunin exam, when they were younger, but, apparently, she had grown. Very apparently. It took him a second to realize that he was staring and quickly looked up and tried very hard to keep looking at her face, not letting his gaze drop lower.

Hinata noticed that Naruto-kun had been staring at her exposed legs, and blushed, turning to the side, so she wasn't looking at him and began playing with her fingers again. "I-Ino-chan got them for me a couple years ago. I-I haven't worn them yet…"

Naruto noticed her embarrassment at what she was wearing. "Don't worry Hinata-chan, I think they look great on you… uhh, you should wear them more often!" He tried to put on his most reassuring smile.

Hinata looked up quickly in surprise, "R-really?" Naruto-kun looked her in the eye and with a grin said "Yeah really! You should have Ino buy you more pairs." Hinata had never been complimented by someone of the opposite sex about her looks before. "Th-thank you… Naruto-kun."

Naruto grinned one of his big goofy smiles, "No prob' Hinata-chan! It's true, so don't worry about it. Come on! We got some training to get to!" And with that he grabbed her hand and began to lead her to the training posts were they had trained yesterday. He had put himself in front for a good reason, he did not want to walk behind Hinata-chan, he didn't trust his eyes.

Hinata blushed when Naruto-kun grabbed her hand and began to lead her to the training posts. She allowed herself to be led, letting herself memorize the feel of his hand around hers.

* * *

The water balloon held in her hand was getting flatter and flatter as she swirled the water inside it using her chakra. Sweat beaded her brow and her two locks of hair were plastered to her face, damp with the sweat of her exertion. But she paid no attention, she was going to do this, she had learned from their first day training together that the only way to accomplish something was to keep trying, never giving up, no matter what.

It was their fourth day training together, after their talk and first day, and everyday they had focused on her chakra spinning, trying to get it as fast as possible. There were three more days left. Naruto stood nearby, gazing intently at the water balloon in Hinata-chan's hand. She was farther than him when he had spun his chakra like that when he was trying to learn the Rasengan. The balloon was already flat as a pancake, and it was getting even more thin and stretched. Naruto was impressed he had never seen someone spin chakra that fast before.

She had to do this, she had to do it for Naruto-kun, he was depending on her. She had to do it. She HAD to!

Naruto's eyes widened as the balloon suddenly sped up its flattening, Hinata-chan was biting her lower lip and frowning in concentration, her other hand clenched into a fist at her side. They were already sweaty form basic work out routines and maneuvers but she was beginning to sweat like a water-fall. He was about to tell she had done enough when he saw the look in her eyes, the pure determination.

The balloon was nearly a foot wide now, and it was still stretching wider and getting thinner. Then it seemed to stall, it was at least two feet wide now and as thin as paper and was hovering above Hinata's palm because of the amount of chakra she was using. _No!_ She had to go farther, Naruto-kun was depending on her!

Naruto watched as Hinata-chan closed her eyes and tensed her entire body. She began to turn red in the face from the exertion, and her entire body trembled from her over tensed muscles. Naruto really was about to tell her stop then when the water balloon began to waver and ripple, it was getting faster and faster by the second until it was literally vibrating.

Hinata opened mouth for a moment in a silent yell, then "aaaahhhhhAAAAAAHHHHH!" She couldn't contain herself she had to scream due to the amount of exertion she was putting out. She was now on her knees, the water balloon held in one hand above her head.

Naruto stood stunned, he didn't know Hinata-chan had it in her to go this far. He could tell she was already past her limit, but she was still going, what could possibly be driving her?

Then all of a sudden '**BOOM!**' the water balloon exploded with a deafening roar, and there was shock wave from the release of pressure. Naruto barely had enough time to duck as water from the spinning balloon went in all directions. Luckily he did, for he saw that the water had been spinning so fast and with such force that it had left lacerations on the trees were the water had hit.

Hinata was on her hands and knees panting for breathe, her entire body was numb, especially her hand were she held the balloon, she could feel prickles that felt like needles running up and down her fingers before it slowly began to fade.

Naruto-kun came over and slowly lifted her up so she was standing, a wave of dizziness hit her and she fell into his arms. Naruto just wrapped his arms around her, picked her up and hugged her. "WOW! That was amazing Hinata-chan! That was so totally amazing, that was so much better than what I could do! You are so ready to try this out with your new technique!"

Hinata barely heard him, he hadn't hugged her since the first day they trained, and now she was lifted off the ground as her head lay nestled against Naruto-kun's neck. She merely nodded her head, stammering a thank you and hoping he would never put her down.

He did though, and regrettably she pulled her head off his shoulder.

Naruto looked at Hinata with concern, she was tired from using so much energy. "You used a lot of chakra Hinata-chan. You need to rest, I don't think we're going to get much farther today."

Hinata felt herself blush at Naruto's concern for her well being, but she felt ashamed as well, she had used up all her available chakra for the day. She wouldn't be able to do anything more unless she got some sleep. "I-I'm sorry Naruto-kun, I shouldn't of done that."

Naruto, however, grinned, "Ah, don't worry about it Hinata-chan, what you did was amazing! You deserve some rest, tomorrow we can try you actually shooting your chakra!" He saw Hinata-chan blush, and smile weakly, making him only grin more. For some reason he felt really good when he made her happy.

Naruto thought a moment, "We're going to have to do something about your lack of chakra though, You'll only be able to use this technique a few times before you run out of energy."

Hinata wilted, he was right, it took a lot of energy to get her chakra to spin at the speed that they had determined to be fast enough. She suddenly felt very useless, what good would she be if she passed out from exhaustion in the middle of a battle? "I-I'm s-sorry…"

Naruto held up his hand, "Don't apologize Hinata-chan, I got it all figured out, tomorrow we'll try out your new technique, and then I'll have surprise for you! So come on, lets get you home so you can rest!"

Hinata looked at him questioningly he could fix her problem of not having that much chakra? How? But she got rid of those thoughts, he asked her on their first day to trust him, and that's what she was going to do. Hinata smiled and nodded her head, "H-Hai!"

They walked home again, but it was different ever since that first evening, they still walked in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. They took comfort in knowing the other was there beside them.

Naruto made sure he didn't walk behind Hinata as long as she wore her shorts, matter of fact he tried to focus as much as possible on her upper extremities, but it was distracting at times. When she was going through her warm up exercises Naruto had to turn his back or do some warming up of his own, it was hard not stare at Hinata-chan's exposed legs.

When they reached Hinata's house Naruto would say goodbye and that he would see her tomorrow. Hinata would stammer a goodbye and then watch Naruto until he disappeared down the street before going to her house and ultimately to her room. Where she would lie and think about the days events and daydream about Naruto hugging her.

Today she was home early though. She took a shower to cool herself off and to wash off all the sweat and grime. She then got dressed in some sweat bottoms and a white t-shirt and was yawning when she slipped under the covers of her bed, she really had used a lot of energy today. She fell asleep before her head barely touched the pillow.

* * *

Naruto went home and to his room, where he took a long and hot bath in the giant steaming bathtub. After a couple hours of soaking he wrapped himself in a white towel and sat in the sauna for a bit mulling over his thoughts.

Why couldn't he stop looking at Hinata-chan's legs? He knew he shouldn't of suggested wearing shorts to her. And why every time he saw her he wanted to hug her? It was different from the few times he had, she was either really upset or really happy. But each morning he saw her, before they headed out to train, he wanted to put his arms around her and just, well… hug her. Why did she make him feel like that? He felt awkward when he was around her sometimes and sometimes he couldn't think of anything to say, which was weird, he was always talking in one way or another, why couldn't he talk sometimes when he was around her?

There were a lot of feelings swimming around in him, and he couldn't seem to figure out what they were. Each time he tried to figure one feeling out, it would slip from his grasp like water. And worse, every time he saw Hinata-chan, those feelings got stronger, so much that they became even harder to understand.

Naruto rest his elbows on his knees and hung his head. What was wrong with him? Was he sick or something? He decided Obaa-chan would know, she seemed to understand him best sometimes. Yeah that was it! After the chuunin exam he could ask Obaa-chan if he was sick or something, she was a healer after all, she could tell him what was wrong and how to fix it. Naruto grinned at his decision and nodded his head it satisfaction. He then got up and left the sauna to go and prepare some ramen with his new do-it-your-self ramen maker, the one Chouji had gotten him a few days ago.

* * *

Hinata woke up to find that it was the middle of the night. She looked at her clock, the glowing red numbers displaying that it was one o'clock in the morning. She hadn't expected to sleep in so long. She still had seven hours before she would see Naruto-kun, but she was awake now though, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get back to sleep.

Hinata slipped out of bed and quietly slipped on her robe and slippers, she was going to take a walk in the gardens for a bit, maybe she could get herself tired enough where she would fall back asleep.

Hinata quietly slipped out of her room and tip-toed down the hallway. She no longer slept in the same building with her father, sister or anyone else of the main family. Ever since she was renounced from her position has heir, her father had moved her room to the sleeping quarters of the branch family. Hinata didn't mind though, she was closer to Neji-niisan, and to the gardens, where she was headed to now.

Hinata finally reached the gardens. They weren't large, but they had nice cobblestone walkways that winded through a relatively small maze of flowers, all arranged to compliment the other and making a vast rainbow of colors. Hinata walked along the paths, lost in her thoughts of what could happen tomorrow during her training with Naruto. When she heard familiar voice "You couldn't sleep either?" she nearly jumped out of her skin, and turned around to see Neji in his own sleeping robes standing calmly and patiently, watching her.

Neji walked up and stood by her, looking at a group of sky blue tulips Hinata had been studying. "I was awake and I heard you get up. You were sleeping all day, had rough time training with Naruto-san?" Neji looked up to see Hinata blushing.

"I… tired myself out. S-so Naruto-kun decided to call it a day." Hinata had begun to twiddle her fingers again.

Neji smiled to himself. She seemed to be enjoying herself training with Naruto-san, he hadn't seen Hinata this happy in a long time, and she had been pretty cheerful the past few days. Neji stopped smiling, and tilted his face so that he was looking at the star-filled sky.

"Hinata?" Hinata, looked up from staring at her feet at the sound of Neji's voice. He had a forlorn and faraway look in his eyes as he stared at the stars. He looked back down into his cousin's eyes, white meeting white. "What does it feel like to be in love?"

Hinata could only gape in shock at Neji-niisan's question. "Wh-what do you mean? Wh-what makes you think I would know anything about…?"

Neji became serious, staring intently into Hinata's eyes, "I know that you love him Hinata."

Hinata was blown away. Neji knew? How did he? How could he? She had never revealed her feelings to anyone before, she had never written them down or recorded them in anyway. All her feelings for Naruto-kun were stored inside her. "I-I-I…"she could only stammer. What was she supposed to say?

Neji smiled, causing Hinata to relax a little, "What did you expect? Its obvious that your attracted to him. It was obvious three years ago and its obvious now. Your always blushing more often then usual and having a harder time saying a straight sentence when he's anywhere within a hundred feet of you."

Hinata only stared, mouth hanging open. Had she been that obvious? Or was it just Neji's uncanny ability to read people's emotions? Neji didn't need the bakyugan to know how someone felt, he was an expert on how people thought. She had just hoped he wouldn't notice with her thoughts, apparently she had hoped for too much.

Neji smiled at his cousin's embarrassment. "Its okay Hinata. Naruto-san and I are uhh, friends now. I am not angry or anything, matter of fact I wish you the best of luck." Neji apparently wasn't used to using the term 'friend', it was still new to him.

Hinata smiled one of her genuine smiles at Neji. She suddenly squeaked and lunged towards Neji hugging him laughing, she never expected anyone, much less her cousin Neji, to wish her luck in capturing the interest of none other than her Naruto-kun.

Neji smiled, hugging his cousin back, "You still haven't answered my question." Hinata looked up at Neji wonderingly "What's it like to be in love?" Hinata smiled back, she finally had someone to share her feelings with, and so for the first time ever, she proceeded to state her feelings for the man she loved out loud and into the open.

* * *

"Alright Hinata-chan! Lets try this thing! Come on, I want to see this in action!" They were at the training posts, it was the day after Hinata's talk with Neji-niisan. She had felt numb for most of the morning at the memory of that talk. She had told Neji-niisan _everything_, she tried to hold things back like what some of her dreams and fantasies contained, but somehow Neji had drug out every single detail about her feelings for Naruto-kun, she was _still_ blushing from some of the things she told him. She knew he wouldn't, but if Neji-niisan really wanted to he could do some serious blackmailing. Hinata had been confused that morning as well at why Neji wanted to know so much about how she felt for Naruto-kun. Why did he want to know anyway?

"Hinata-chan…?" Hinata looked up to see Naruto standing close with a worried look on his face. "I-I'm fine Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled "Alright then! Lets do this!" Hinata smiled and began. "**Byakugan!" **she yelled veins popping up behind her eyes.

This time she didn't have a water balloon, but she had been using chakra through her hands ever since she was little, she was sensitive to the movements of chakra throughout her body. The chakra in her hand began to spin. Hinata frowned with concentration. It only took a couple of seconds now to get the chakra to spin fast enough. She heard Naruto beside her, "You ready Hinata-chan?" Hinata nodded, keeping her eyes focused on the target, the tree up ahead, who's chakra she was focusing on. "Alright then, on the count of three. One. Two. THREE!"

Hinata shot her hand forward as if pushing something away from her and released the chakra spinning in her palm. There was a blue flash of chakra from Hinata's palm, looking a lot like a gun going off.

Naruto stared, all he saw was the blue flash and nothing else. He was about to try and reassure Hinata-chan and tell her to do it again, when he saw her smiling widely. "Hinata-chan? Did it work?"

Hinata turned to look at Naruto. Of course! He didn't have the byakugan so he couldn't see the chakra she had just launched. She nodded her head "Y-yes! It worked Naruto-kun!" she almost yelled in joy. She had done it! There was a bright flash of visible chakra, then an invisible 'spike' of chakra came whirling from her palm, she could see it though thanks to her activated blood limit. The 'spike' was about three, maybe four feet long and it was only an inch wide or so. The spinning of the chakra formed it into this thin shape and caused it to fly farther and longer before dissipating. She guessed her max range was about a hundred yards. And there in the tree, as proof of her success, was a perfect hole in the tree's chakra, exactly one inch wide and precisely where she had aimed. She deactivated her blood limit and turned to look at Naruto-kun.

Naruto began jumping up and down after she described it to him, "Woohoo! That's awesome Hinata-chan, that really rocks! Hey!" Naruto exclaimed his face becoming thoughtful, "I just thought of a name for this! We'll call it the '**Jyuuken Arrow**'! It'll be our secret weapon during the chuunin exam!" Naruto looked at her expectantly, "What do you think Hinata-chan?"

Hinata smiled "Hai! I l-love the name Naruto-kun!" She was nearly jumping up and down like Naruto-kun. She had done it! She had succeeded at doing something, not only that she had her own special technique, completely unique to her, and right now the only two people in the world who knew about it was her and Naruto-kun.

Hinata's smile dropped though, "B-but, it uses up so much chakra that I'll only be able to do it five, maybe ten times before I run out. I'm s-sorry Naruto-kun…" She hung her head in shame, she had done it yes, but what was the use if she wasn't efficient at using it?

Naruto smiled and held up one finger, "I told you to stop apologizing Hinata-chan, and besides I also told you I had that problem completely figured out, remember?" Hinata could only stare as Naruto pulled from his pockets two long strips of what looked like ordinary white cloth. "Here Hinata-chan put these on!" and handed them to her.

Hinata held them up to her face not knowing what to do with them or what was going on for that matter. Naruto saw her confused expression and so he took her hands in his own and began to wrap the cloth around her arms.

Hinata looked away in attempts to hide her blush. His hands gently wrapping the cloth around her arms and brushing lightly up against her skin was sending shivers up and down her arms and back. That warmth that she had felt before was beginning to spread through her body when he finally finished.

"Not to tight I hope." Hinata shook her head, breathing heavily and trying to regain control of her tingling body. "N-no, they are fine." The bandages were wrapped around her palms and then up to her elbows. "W-what are they… N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto smiled and said "You'll see, use your byakugan."

Hinata quickly activated her advanced bloodline limit, and was stunned by what she saw. The wrappings were full of glowing and swirling chakra, they were so bright it almost hurt her eyes, she had never seen so much before… except when she looked at Naruto-kun. "W-w-what are these?" she asked amazed.

Naruto grinned, pleased with himself. "Lee-san got them for me for a homecoming gift, they store as much chakra as someone can put into them in a day, and they store that

chakra indefinitely. Ero-sennin's always telling me about how much of a chakra freak I am, and my stamina and chakra are some of the highest he's seen. So I figured if I have so much chakra then maybe I could lend it to you."

He was right Hinata looked at the arm bands again and tried to judge how much there was, "I-I could use the jyuuken arrow a **hundred** times, p-probably more! And that's w-with each one!" Hinata couldn't believe it, he was going to let her use these when he could be using them himself? "Naruto-kun… I-I can't take these, y-you should be using them, not me…"

Naruto frowned, "Nonsense Hinata-chan, you're going to use them for the chuunin exam. You and I both know that you need them more than I, besides, I have plenty of chakra to spare for the both of us, and that's without those arm bandages! Now com on! Lets work on your new Jyuuken Arrow!"

And so they did, Hinata couldn't find any reason to complain and she was truthfully grateful that Naruto-kun would give her something so precious.

* * *

That night Hinata lay in her bed, the arm bandages still on, she wasn't going to take them off until the end of the chuunin exam, she wasn't sure if she was ever going to take them off. She had used her own chakra to restore what she used during training. She couldn't get to sleep because she had realized something, everyone else had gotten Naruto-kun gifts when he had returned home, she hadn't gotten him anything, worse, he had given her something, not expecting anything in return. She was thinking as hard as she could about what she could get him, she had to get him something, she just couldn't figure out anything that could be good enough for him.

It had to be something special, something she knew he would like, but not too monotonous, like she could get him ramen, he would love that, but he had plenty in his house already.

She got up and looked through the things into her room, until she stumbled upon something in her closet, something she hadn't seen in a long time. It was what she was looking for, she held up to the light to get a better look at it, this is what she would give to Naruto-kun.

* * *

It had been their last day training, Hinata had gotten a hang of the jyuuken arrow, she was able to shoot it rapidly now, the required speed of the spinning was coming much easier to her now. Naruto timed that if she used both hands she could shoot two jyuuken arrows per second. And of course they had worked out and gone through combat maneuvers, they had to prepare themselves mentally and physically.

It was already dark when they left the training posts, and now they had stopped at her front gate.

They stood awkwardly, Naruto-kun was silent and not saying anything, he was usually the first to say goodbye, and now he was hesitating for some reason. Hinata was about to turn to go and forget about giving him her present, when she suddenly realized something. This was her last day with Naruto-kun that would be in general peace, when the chuunin exams began she wasn't going to be able to focus on her feelings for him, but doing what she had to do to pass the exam and to keep them both alive. She froze at that thought, genin died during the exam, there was no guarantee that neither of them would be hurt, or even killed. She froze at that thought, Naruto-kun dieing was almost too much for her to bear thinking about. Something in her seemed to turn on, tears began to form in her eyes.

Naruto saw the tears beginning to leak from Hinata-chan's eyes, "Hinata-chan… what is it? Did I say do something…?" Hinata suddenly jumped at him, throwing her arms around his neck and pressing her face against his neck, he staggered back a step from the force the impact. She was sobbing in his arms, he hated it when she cried. He slowly put his arms around her. "Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" she was silent for so long he didn't think she was going to answer, but then he heard a soft whisper against his neck "…please…" Naruto frowned, "huh?"

Hinata's tears began to flow more freely, "Please Naruto-kun… d-don't die on me." Naruto's eyes widened in shock, realization at why Hinata-chan was crying dawning upon him. He slowly closed his arms and held her against him, burying his face against his hair. "I won't die Hinata-chan, I won't leave you, I swear it. I swear it on my blood, I'll never leave you… ever."

Hinata began to cry more, sobs wracking her body, she couldn't help it, so many emotions were swimming inside of her. Fear, sadness, anxiety, embarrassment, and amazingly happiness. She believed him, he was telling the truth, he wasn't going to leave her… ever. "Naruto-kun, I-I…" _love you_. She couldn't bring herself to form the words, when more than ever this was the perfect time.

Naruto sensed her distress, "Its okay Hinata-chan, I'm here, I'll always be here, just remember that."

Hinata's tears began to slow and finally stop. He would always be there he said, and she believed him, she would get another chance to tell him, she had to have another chance.

Naruto pulled her away from him so that he could look her in the eyes, and for the first time he realized how beautiful her eyes were, they weren't white like he originally thought, but a pale lavender. _She's so **beautiful**_. Naruto realized what he was thinking and blushed, causing Hinata to blush as well.

Hinata turned away and reluctantly stepped form his arms, it felt like she was tearing out her own heart. "Th-thank you Naruto-kun. You didn't have to p-promise though…"

Naruto frowned and grabbed her hands bringing her closer again, she stared up into his eyes with a mixture of shock and fear. "I meant what I said Hinata-chan, neither of us is going to die, I swore it, and I always keep my promises, 'cause that's my ninja way."

Hinata felt her self smile and nod, confidence flooding back into her, everything would be okay, together they would make sure of it. "I-I have something for you Naruto-kun. I d-didn't get you a gift like everyone else when you cam back, s-so I got you one now." She reached into her jacket pocket and gave him a small neatly wrapped box, the wrapping paper was white with a pale lavender bow wrapped around it.

Naruto smiled and began to open the present, "I-its not much I know, but I hope you like it…" The last was a barely audible whisper.

"I love it Hinata-chan! No one's ever gotten me anything like this before!" Naruto was holding up a thin gold chain, with a small round and silver locket.

Naruto looked at the locket with interest, "Does it open?" Hinata shook her head, "N-No, my grandmother made it for me, she said it would only open when the person who wore it was in d-dire need. It never opened for me… maybe it will for you someday."

Naruto stared at the necklace with new wonder. "Wow, thanks Hinata-chan, no one's given me something from their family before. I'll make sure I take good care of it." He then unclasped it and put it on around hid neck and tucked it inside his shirt. "That's probably the best gift I got Hinata-chan… um, thank you." Naruto smiled and blushed.

Hinata smiled too, making Naruto blush even more, she really was pretty… no, beautiful when she smiled. "Umm, well… uhh, meet me at my place tomorrow, so we can walk to the exam together?"

Hinata smiled "Ei-eight a.m. right?" Naruto nodded "Eight sharp!… um, I'll see you then ok?" Hinata nodded, but before she turned to go, Naruto impulsively reached out and gave her a quick hug "Goodnight Hinata-chan…" He then released her and walked to his house.

Hinata stood there in shock watching Naruto until he disappeared into the night, then a warm joy began to fill her like small stream began to flow in the spring. She walked into her house and to her room.

Neji saw Hinata in the hallway as she entered her room, she was smiling and walking as if she were moving through a dream. Neji smiled knowingly, now if only he could be so brave.

* * *

Naruto took a hot shower and lay in his bed, ramen bowls from that night's dinner stacked up on the floor at the foot of the bed. All the time one thought was going through his head, what had happened only a couple of hours before. Hinata –chan and him hugging, and his promise to her, he would keep that promise no matter what.

Naruto put his hand around the locket Hinata-chan had given him. The only thought going through his head now was an image of those pale lavender eyes looking up into his.

He realized the more he let the thought run through his head, the more he didn't want to stop thinking about it.

* * *

Alright, chapter 4 finished. 'I hunger... give me... REVIEWS! ARGH!' lol.

Preview for next chapter. The chuunin exam starts and there's a whole lot of kick ass fight scenes and just a little bit of fluff to top it all off. can't wait to hear from you!


	5. The Chuunin Exam! Part One

Thank you so much again! I loved the reviews everyone! And I do mean everyone.

Alright, so there's a bit more fluff in this one than I originaly planned, but I felt that it was important, And yes its a part one, Part two will cover the rest of the exam.

Hope you enjoy! review please!**

* * *

**

**Chapter 5: The Chuunin Exam! Part One…**

"Alright boys and girls calm down." Hatake Kakashi stood in the middle of the exam room, surveying all the genin that had made it there without being led astray, he was relieved to see both Naruto and Hinata. Of course it wasn't hard to find them, Naruto was not only one of the tallest, but who could miss that shock of blonde hair? Hyuuga Hinata stood next to him, he noticed how Naruto stood closer to Hinata than someone else normally would. Kakashi smiled to himself, looks like Naruto had made a new friend while training for the past week.

Kakashi tore his gaze from the two and addressed the rest of the genin in the room. He had volunteered to be the jounin instructor during the written part of the quiz. He told himself it was because he had never done a chuunin exam before, but he knew what the truth was. It was because one of his own students was going to be taking the exam this time around, he wanted to keep an eye on Naruto. The last time he had already lost one of his students, he wasn't going to let it happen again. "Everyone look at the seating chart and find your places, those not seated within the next minute will be disqualified."

The room turned into a scene of chaos as all the genin rushed towards the walls to look at the seating charts pinned up to the wall. Kakashi grinned inwardly, maybe he should have given them five minutes.

Naruto almost panicked, until he saw Hinata using her byakugan. She would be able to see the charts without having to move. Naruto smiled, quick thinking, and to think he was going to try barreling through the crowd.

Hinata couldn't believe it, she knew her byakugan was working just fine, but the charts said that Naruto's seat was 15A, and hers… hers was 16A! They were going to sit right next to each other, just like in their first exam three years ago. She had expected to not be able to sit next to Naruto-kun, or anywhere near him for that matter, she was elated. They only had a few seconds left though, she did the first thing that came to mind, she grabbed Naruto's hand and began to drag him, "Th-this way Naruto-kun!"

Naruto found himself being drug to his seat by the smaller Hinata, she pointed to his seat while blushing for some reason. As he sat he was about to turn to her and tell her to get to her seat when she sat right next to him. His eyes widened in surprise, "Are you sure Hinata-chan?" Hinata nodded keeping her eyes on the desk in front of her, "I-it is what the seating charts said…"

Naruto was elated as well, "Alright! Just like last time, we are so going to kick ass in this aren't we?" Hinata looked up and smiled, she felt a small bit of relief at the fact that he wanted to sit next to her, but a small part of her said that she already knew that he wanted to. She frowned at that thought, how would she know that?

Kakashi, surveyed the room, only three hadn't made it to their seats, they were the ones who had tried to bull rush their way through the other genin to get a look at the charts. They were disqualified. Two leaf and a stone nin. Kakashi didn't lie. There were now only forty-two students left. _Perfect._ Kakashi pulled out a his own copy of the chart and began to check off the genin sitting at their desks. Amazingly all of them made it to the correct seats.

"Alright kiddies, just to inform you, your seating arrangement was completely random, and there's a little surprise for you at the end that has to deal with that. Anyway before we begin the test and all that no cheating that I explained earlier, we have a surprise visit from the Hokage."

* * *

Tsunade was instantly relieved when she entered the exam room, there was Naruto and sitting to his left was Hinata. Tsunade smiled to herself mischievously, she could be caught and the entire exam could be called off and held in one of the other countries in the next six months. But that's what gambling was all about, and lately, ever since she met Naruto, she had been betting on other things rather than money, and winning more often then not. 

It had taken a bit of effort, but nothing the sixth Hokage of Konoha could handle. Altering the seating arrangement so that Naruto and Hinata sat next to each other was nothing compared to some of the things she had done in the past. Now she just had to pray that she wasn't caught. "Welcome leaf genin and genin from the other hidden villages, whether this your first time, or your tenth, I wish you the best of luck. As you know, the chuunin exam receives light alterations to the rules every year, so expect the worst, you'll be better prepared and able to deal with the challenges you will be facing. Again, my best wishes, I will be watching _all_ of your progress." With that she looked meaningfully at where Naruto and Hinata sat and turned to go.

* * *

Kakashi noticed Tsunade's smile and gaze before she left and looked up to see Hinata and Naruto sitting next to each other. He couldn't believe that he had missed that while checking the list. _She didn't!_ but Kakashi had worked for Tsunade-sama for three years now, he knew her antics quite well, from being the butt of some of her jokes and deals. _She did._ Kakashi sighed, well might as well not stop the exam now that it had started. He secretly wished Naruto the best of luck. "Alright! Begin!" 

Naruto didn't understand why Obaa-chan had looked at him like that, what did she mean that where going to be new surprises? Naruto stopped thinking about it when Kakashi-sensei yelled for them to begin. He looked meaningfully at Hinata-chan, they already knew they were supposed to cheat and had worked out a strategy before hand. Now that they sat right next to each other it would make things ten times easier.

About ten minutes into the test, giving enough time for some of the students to answer the questions, Hinata activated the byakugan. She looked through everything around her while only focusing on her own paper. She found one of them.

* * *

Shikamaru was wearing a long robe and straw hat to hide his features. He new the answers of course but he had to make it seem like he was actually trying, so he sat for five minutes at a time before answering each of the ten questions, giving him just enough time to finish at the end. There was no 'hidden' tenth question, like there was for him three years ago when he became a chuunin. This was his second time volunteering for the chuunin exam, to hide among the genin and answer questions correctly in order to 'aid' the genin in their information gathering skills.

* * *

Hinata had found one of the 'helpers', better yet it was Shikamaru, he would answer the questions perfectly. She signaled Naruto-kun by tapping her pencil on her lips as if she were deep in thought. 

Naruto saw the signal from the corner of his eye. And smiled inwardly, she had tapped three times, which meant she found one of the exam 'helpers' and that he was jounin. _Perfect._ Naruto sealed under his desk and whispered softly "Handcuff Jutsu." An invisible band of his chakra attached itself from his right hand to Hinata-chan's right hand, melding perfectly with the chakra in the armbands she wore. Naruto gave the signal by scratching his head.

Hinata saw it easily, they were all set. She began to write down Shikamaru's answers as she watched him from five seats behind her. Naruto's hand, bonded with hers, with his handcuff jutsu, mimicked every movement.

Naruto really didn't have to do much it was Hinata-chan doing all the work actually, he just let his hand be maneuvered by hers like a puppet. That's how he came up with the handcuff jutsu, from talking with a hermit puppet master while traveling with Ero-sennin. Naruto had learned how to make chakra from his hands attach to something and move it around. He had never gotten farther than the rudimentary basics, but it was enough for him to come up with this jutsu. Hey, he had even kicked Lee-san's ass with it!

When the hour rang, Kakashi called for everyone to turn their papers over. Kakashi surveyed the room, there were forty students left, only two had been caught cheating enough to disqualify them. _Wow, this is a pretty good group so far._ Kakashi was happy at the fact that both Naruto and Hinata where still there. "Alright children, now that that's over, I have some news. First, the papers will be collected and scanned. Please wait a few moments for your scores to come back.

The papers were quickly gathered by a chuunin and brought to a machine that he fed the papers into one by one. It took about fifteen minutes for all of the tests to go through. And then it spat out one sheet of paper which Kakashi grabbed and began to read.

His eyes widened, all of them had passing scores. This group of genin really were good. Not bad. Kakashi looked up, "You'll all be happy to know that the rest of you remaining have passed." There were whoops of joy and sighs of relief, Kakashi waited patiently for the noise to die down. "Alright, now for the other part of my news." Kakashi brought both of his hands closer together, motioning everyone to move closer to the center. Hinata and Naruto did not have to move, they were already seated next to each other and directly in the middle. "Alright, I can tell that many of you are not enjoying being this close to someone you don't know. Well, get used to it cause all odd numbered chairs, your partner is to your right, everyone in even numbered chairs, vice versa."

Complete silence answered Kakashi as realization dawned on the genin in the exam room. Then there was a sudden explosion of yelling and protests. Kakashi sighed, he knew this was going to happen, but it was still annoying.

Naruto quickly looked at his chair number, 15A, and odd number. He turned to Hinata-chan on his left, joy and relief painted both of their faces. They had expected to be partners anyways, but if it wasn't for their luck at being sat next to each other they would have been paired with someone else. Naruto realized how close he had come to not being able to keep his promise to Hinata-chan. And so he hugged her.

Hinata was relieved as well, she didn't know what she would have done if she had been stuck with someone else. When Naruto-kun hugged her, she still blushed, but instead of going stiff as a board, like she usually did, she hugged him back, just this once allowing the happiness and relief flood through her. She really didn't know what she would have done if she wasn't with her Naruto-kun.

Kakashi waited until the yelling finally died down into grumbling and semi-silence before speaking again. " I know that many of you expected to perform the second part of the exam with your teammates that you came with, but if you didn't notice, we were excusing only one genin at a time from the exam, instead of the whole team like what is normally done. You can blame me for this arrangement because it was my idea. But just remember, we are testing you on how well you will perform as a team, and throwing you into two man teams with a total stranger will test you at how well you adapt to new and unexpected situations. Of course some of you are with someone you may already know, while others are thrown in with someone form a different village. All I have to say is this… deal with it, if you don't like it, quit." And with that he turned to go, he stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder "Meet all of you at area 44, a.k.a. the Forest of Death in one hour. Oh and as a rule, you can't stab your partner in the back, or else you're immediately disqualified. See ya!"

Naruto was still hugging Hinata-chan after Kakashi left, he slowly released her and gave an embarrassed smile. For some reason he didn't wan to let go of her. "Umm, come on! You heard Kakashi-sensei, we got to meet up at the Forest in an hour. Lets get going!"

* * *

They had all gathered at the front of the walled off section of forest all twenty two-man teams. Kakashi was there explaining how that this time there would only be three days to get to the center tower, how you couldn't open the scrolls or else you were disqualified, and that there would some 'new' surprises on the way. Naruto didn't like the sound of that, but there was no way he was backing down, especially with Hinata-chan there… he had made a promise, and he intended to keep it. 

Many of the genin were dismayed at learning that their numbers would be cut in half at the least, only a max of ten teams could make it to the finals, and not all of them would make it probably. Naruto was expecting it, its what made it so much more interesting after all. Naruto grinned with his old confidence and determination, he was getting excited just standing here thinking about it.

Each team began to take turns walking behind a screen in order to receive one of the two scrolls needed to enter the tower, the earth and heaven scroll. Each team only had one of the two and the only way of getting the other was defeating another team that hopefully had it.

Naruto's eyes widened, there were three sound nins among the genin that had made it this far. They were all male, two of them were on one team, and the other was on a team with a grass nin. Naruto felt his hands clench into fists, his teeth grinding. Those bastards! They had to know something about Sasuke's whereabouts and where the hell he could find that damn Orochimaru!

As the two teams with the sound nins passed through the screen and received the scrolls, Naruto nudged Hinata-chan softly and nodded towards the two teams.

She caught the signal and activated her byakugan. She had also noticed the sound nins and Naruto-kun's agitation at seeing them. The sound were the ones who had hurt Naruto-kun and his friends, she suddenly felt something she had never felt before, hate. They had hurt Naruto-kun during his last chuunin exam, they were men of that Orochimaru monster, they were here to take her Naruto-kun away from her! "They both have earth scrolls."

Naruto looked down in surprise at the grim determination he had just heard in Hinata-chan's voice. He smiled at her "We can take them Hinata-chan, you and me together, we're unstoppable!" Hinata-chan blushed and smiled at his words, he loved it when he got her to smile, he had to find other ways to make her smile like that.

It was finally their turn to go through the screen, Kakashi was behind the screen handing out scrolls. He looked meaningfully at both Naruto and Hinata, "I wish the both of you the best of luck, and Naruto?" Naruto looked up in acknowledgement, "You noticed the three sound nins yes?" Naruto nodded slowly his eyes going hard. "Be wary Naruto, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but I think I need to tell you. There haven't been any sound nins in the chuunin exams ever since you left three years ago. Then all of a sudden when you come back the sound village decides to register, I assume you're catching my drift." Naruto nodded "I'll be careful Kakashi sensei." Kakashi looked at them a moment more before heading them their scroll.

Naruto looked at it for a second before putting it in his pouch. A heaven scroll. _Perfect._

_

* * *

_

Naruto and Hinata stood in front of their gate, their entrance to area 44, simply known as the Forest of Death. They were waiting for it to open. "You ready for this Hinata-chan?"

Hinata looked into the eyes of the man she loved and told herself she would protect him, and in order to protect him she had agreed with him about tracking down the sound nins. She realized she had to destroy them in order to keep her Naruto-kun safe, Kakashi's words echoing through her thoughts, _Three years since the sound has entered the exam… and now Naruto returns and they come back?…_They wanted Naruto-kun, she would do everything in her power to make sure they never got their hands on him. She nodded "Hai, I-I am ready Naruto-kun."

Naruto was surprised by this new Hinata-chan, he had only seen her like this once before, when she had exploded the balloon that one training day several days ago. He wondered what was driving her to be so determined, Naruto grinned, she was strong, together they would show the world what 'trash' could really do.

A red light above the gate began to blink and the massive twin gates opened enough to allow both of them through. They almost seemed to disappear as they charged ahead into the forest.

* * *

Hinata was taking the lead, using her byakugan to its full extent in an attempt to find any trace of the sound nins. It had been seven hours and they hadn't even found trace of another team. They weren't being followed or led on, her byakugan could see everything in a 359 degree sphere. And she swept her head from side to side in order to make up for the blind spot behind her neck. Her byakugan had improved because of their training together and she could see out to the full range of her jyuuken arrow, one hundred yards. No they were definitely alone, and the sky was turning a deep purple color as started to become night. 

Naruto was frustrated, why weren't all the teams around! He knew it wasn't Hinata-chan's fault, but they hadn't even found another team yet! Naruto looked at the sky noticing the lengthening shadows. Naruto knew that the byakugan didn't allow one to see in the dark, it didn't have night vision among all the things it could do, and he knew without it they would never find another team at this rate. "Hinata-chan." Hinata looked over her shoulder, even though she didn't have to, "Hinata-chan we need to stop for the night, you can't see at night and we're pretty much lost without your byakugan.

Hinata blushed but agreed "O-okay Naruto-kun" He was right, they were tired and hungry from not resting all day, and she couldn't see at night anymore than she could without the byakugan.

So they stopped in a little alcove created by two monstrous roots of an ancient oak tree. Hinata had never seen trees as big as these outside the Forest of Death, the roots themselves were at least ten feet tall. There little camp that Naruto-kun had set up was well hidden. They had eaten and Naruto-kun had given encouragement, stating that tomorrow was a new day. Hinata smiled, he was always so confident, never doubting himself, she wished she was like that, at least sometimes.

They were about to lay down to sleep, when all of the sudden something completely unexpected happened. It began to snow.

Naruto frowned at the little flakes of ice, _So this is what Kakashi-sensei meant by 'new surprises'._ Worse, it was getting colder and fast. They hadn't packed winter gear, all they had was a blanket that Naruto had let Hinata-chan use to make her bed. He began to shiver uncontrollably as the temperature quickly dropped below freezing.

Hinata wasn't much better off, matter of fact she was worse. She was turning blue on the lips and her complexion was getting pale. She was shivering without control, she was going to get hypothermia soon if she didn't get warm. Even the chakra fueled fire was being put out by the cold.

_No._ Naruto saw Hinata-chan suffering. They were going to die if they didn't get warm some how, and the snow was beginning to pile up inch by inch as the snowfall became more furious. He wasn't going to let it end this way, he had made a promise and he intended to keep it. He acted purely on impulse, there was only one way to get them warm, and he would do anything to keep Hinata-chan safe. He realized that deep down he truly would do _anything_ to keep the lavender-eyed girl safe from harm. It gave him new purpose and strength.

Hinata was holding herself, trying desperately to get warm, when Naruto-kun stood up and grabbed his blanket he had given her. He walked over as he put the blanket around his shoulders, she thought he was just trying to get warm when he suddenly reached down and picked her up in his arms, covering both of them. Hinata turned pink at the fact that he was holding her bridal style, both of them draped in the blanket. She realized he was using their closeness and the blanket to keep both of them warm. And he _was_ warm, she was still shivering, and acting out of instinct rather than thought she buried herself against him, wrapping her arms around him and trying to get as close as possible. She realized that they were horizontal and about a hundred feet in the air, Naruto-kun was walking up the tree to get away from the snow.

She was so cold, he let her snuggle as close as she wanted to him, she needed to get warmer. And they needed to get off the ground before they were buried in the snow, so he began to walk up the tree they had been camped under. When he finally found a branch that was wide enough to sit on without fear of falling off and had enough leaves above it to block most of the snow, he sat down his back to the tree, and was about to put Hinata-chan down as well and give her the blanket when he saw that she was asleep in his arms and curled up against him. She had stopped shaking and was now very warm.

Naruto couldn't help himself, he touched her peaceful face lightly with his fingers, brushing back a strand of hair that covered her face, causing her to sigh and snuggle closer against him.

He was breathing hard, his heart hammering. What the hell was wrong with him? Hinata-chan was just sleeping, nothing to get worked up about. He then noticed the blanket had slipped and Hinata-chan was frowning and beginning to shiver in her sleep. _Screw it._ Naruto pulled the blanket back over them, covering his head with it and making a sort of 'tent' for Hinata-chan. He then wrapped his arms as far as they could go around her, which happened to be farther than all the way, and rested his head against hers, letting her slow breathing and soft heart beat lull him into a world of dreams.

* * *

The sun hit her face causing her to open her eyes reluctantly, she had been having the most amazing dream. She then looked up to be confronted by the fact that she was face to face with a very blonde and sleeping ninja, that she was in his arms and they were both completely covered by a blanket. Hinata realized it hadn't been a dream. 

She snuggled back into her bit of 'Naruto shoulder' and was seriously considering going back to sleep when she remembered where she was and why she was there. The chuunin exam… the Forest of Death. Hinata looked around her and realized that all the snow from last night had melted, and now it was fairly warm actually. It had been a jutsu that was used over the forest. _Some surprise._

Hinata couldn't get out of Naruto-kun's arms, though she really didn't want to. But she reached up anyway and stroked the blonde's face, her palm lightly brushing the whisker marks, "N-Naruto-kun?… wake up please." He slowly but surely opened his eyes, his sky blue eyes looking sleepily into hers, she felt her heart skip a beat at how close his face was to hers.

"Good morning Hinata-chan. Are you feeling ok?" She nodded, she was feeling better than okay actually, she was feeling like she was in seventh heaven at the moment. Naruto rubbed one of his eyes sleepily and set her down in front of him. "That's good to hear, I was really worried about you last night." He then let out a monster of a yawn and stretched his entire length. Hinata held her breathe, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander over his body as he tensed and stretched every muscle. She could feel herself turning very pink all over, and that heat was beginning to spread through her body again, she quickly averted her eyes, embarrassed with herself for staring.

Naruto didn't seem to notice though, he stood up and pulled Hinata-chan up with him. "Com on, we only got two more days to go, we still need to find that other scroll. Here eat this." He handed her a red pill, it was a soldier pill and pulled one out for himself, "Kiba gave'em to me before we left for the exam yesterday, he said we might need them." Hinata nodded, with the soldier pill she could go on for three days straight without stopping, resting or even eating.

After they had eaten their pills and allowed themselves to get used to the feeling of endless energy given by the pills, they jumped into the forest, heading towards the center of the forest, keeping an eye out for any other teams, especially ones that had a sound nin or two in them.

* * *

It didn't take long. It had only been an hour since they had set off when Hinata spotted activity straight ahead. "I-I found them Naruto-kun" Naruto looked up in surprise, "Which ones are they?" Hinata frowned as she made her byakugan only focus n front of them, effectively increasing its range. "I-It's the sound nin that was paired with the one form the grass village. Th-they still only have one scroll." 

Naruto grinned, this was it, he was either going to get answers from this follower of Orochimaru or he would defeat him, either way they needed that scroll. "Alright Hinata-chan! Lets do it!" they sped up and began to close the distance between them and the other team.

The other team apparently noticed they were being followed soon after they were discovered by Hinata, but Naruto didn't care, he wasn't trying to hide his presence. Hinata and him jumped through some bushes to find themselves in a clearing that was about fifty feet wide, the tree's branches were so long though that they cast the entire area in leafy shade. The two nins were already there waiting for them.

The grass nin was tall and thin. He had long straight hair pulled up in a ponytail. He wore nondescript robes with a rope belt, and his forehead protector covering his nose and mouth. On his back though was the largest scythe Naruto had ever seen. The blade itself was at least five feet long, and as black as night.

The sound nin wore grey robes and the customary purple belt often worn by sound nins that served Orochimaru directly. His fore head protector covered his entire head, the metal plate over his eyes, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed.

The sound nin spoke "Uzumaki Naruto… I never thought that I would have the pleasure." He sneered, "You are wondering why am here with my brothers yes?" he had a very deep voice that seemed to echo like he was inside a cave or something.

Naruto only glared back at him, he and Hinata-chan had already gone into their fighting stances. Naruto was ready to jump at a moment's notice, but he needed to know why the sound nin was here. "Why _are_ you here, did Orochimaru tell you to come? And if so where is Sasuke?"

The sound nin chuckled, a very disturbing sound. "Yes Orochimaru-sama sent us, and yes I know where the Uchiha child is. He is Orochimaru now."

Naruto almost instantly went numb as what he was told began to sink in. _No._ It was too late. _NO. _He had failed Sasuke, he was already the Snake Sannin's vassal. "NOOOO!" The numbness instantly went away, "You're lying! I won't believe it!" He now felt anger and rage bubbling inside him. What if it was true though? What if it really was already too late?

His anger began to die, being replaced by a sense of hopelessness, when he felt Hinata-chan's hand on his arm, he looked at her with a surprised look. He could feel the concern emanating from her eyes, "Y-you can't give up Naruto-kun… Sasuke-san is s-still out there somewhere." Naruto felt the hopelessness slip away under that pale-lavender gaze. She was right he had made two promises, one to find Sasuke, one to always be by Hinata-chan, he intended to keep those promises, this was his Nindo, his ninja way.

The sound nin, saw the look of determination in the blonde ninja's eyes. He grimaced, "So you still want to fight huh? Good, because Orochimaru-sama's orders where to kill you the first chance we got, that's why me and my brothers are here. Prepare to die Uzumaki."

The grass nin looked calmly at the scene before him, "I don't know what your differences are, and frankly I don't really care." He turned to the sound nin, "We need the other scroll, they might have it, so lets stop this stupidity and finish this quickly."

The sound nin nodded with a wicked grin on his face, "I couldn't have said it better myself." And with that they charged.

Naruto and Hinata braced themselves. The grass nin came to the front unhitching his scythe from his back and then swinging it putting his entire body into it, black flames erupted from the scythe in an arch that raced towards Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto grabbed Hinata and rolled just in time, as the black flames went whizzing by and exploded in the trees about ten feet behind them. The blast pushed them forwards, causing them to stumble, the sound nin then opened his mouth and screamed. The entire area in front of him was ripped with sonic waves of energy. Naruto jumped in front of Hinata putting his back to the blast and took it full on, "AHHHH!" The air rippled with the force of the sonic energy, and Naruto fell forward into Hinata's arms, his back smoking and bloody from the blast.

Hinata was afraid he was seriously hurt or worse, dead. But then he moved his head and _winked_ at her. He was okay! She got up, she had to distract them for Naruto-kun, he had a plan. She began to spin the chakra in her palms.

The sound nin snorted "Hah, I know all about the byakugan girl and your jyuuken, I don't have to worry about your pathetic attacks as long as I'm not in close quarters with you."

She glared at them, she hated them, they had hurt Naruto-kun not only physically but emotionally, and they intended to kill him. She was having none of it. The sound nin and his teammate were laughing at her as she stood there glaring at them. She thrust her hands forward twin blast of blue chakra emanating from her palms.

The sound nin stopped laughing, "That was it! A little bit of fireworks?" The sound nin began to laugh again and turned to his teammate, "Go ahead and kill her, I've already finished off the other piece of trash." The grass nin grinned and lunged forward. Except his knee suddenly bent in the wrong direction and he stumbled onto one knee "Agh!"

The sound nin's eyes widened, "What the hell! But… but I thought…!" Hinata grinned, "Don't act like you know who I am! Don't ever Underestimate me!" She screamed, vaguely aware that was what Naruto-kun always said. The sound nin took a step back, fear apparent on his face, and one of his knees popped and bent in the wrong direction like the grass nin. She had hit them perfectly.

"**Water Gathering Jutsu!**" the yell seemed to come from every where around them as giant ball of water, twenty feet wide began to form above their heads, the two nin looked around trying to find out where the voice had come from, "Wha…?" then the sound nin saw that where the Uzumaki brat had been was no longer occupied. "What! But I killed you! There's no way you could of survived that blast!" He was screaming at the air.

Naruto's voice floated to them from the trees, "…never underestimate me… **Oil Transmutation Jutsu!**" The water ball turned murky and then black, it had turned into a giant floating ball of oil.

Naruto suddenly appeared form above, landing in front of Hinata-chan. "**Grand Fireball Jutsu!**" Flames erupted form Naruto's mouth and lit the giant ball of oil on flame. He then turned to the two nins. "Trash are we? This is your last chance, tell me where Sasuke is or I'll destroy you."

The sound nin chuckled "I already told you, Sasuke _is_ Orochimaru-sama."

Naruto glared furiously, "Wrong answer." He then performed at least twenty hand seals in rapid succession, ending with 'tiger', "This is my own combo that I cam up with, I hope you two like it cause your about to experience it first hand. **Firestorm of the Armageddon Jutsu!**" Nothing happened.

The sound nin began to laugh "That's it? That's your great combo…?" Naruto had grabbed Hinata's hand and was running with all his speed, "Come on Hinata-chan we have to get to some cover!"

The giant fireball began to rumble and the surface began to ripple. The rumble began to grow like a thousand beating drums until finally it was a deafening roar and the surface was pulsating madly. Naruto pulled them behind a boulder just in time. A tendril of flame shot out of the hovering sphere, it was at least five feet wide and swirling like a tornado of flame, it struck the ground just missing the two injured nins, leaving a crater in the ground that had turned the soil and sand to glass form the intense heat and pressure.

The two nins began to clumsily runaway.

More and more tendrils began to shoot out of the sphere in random directions, coming faster and faster, cutting wide swaths of ash and destruction through the surrounding forest. The tendrils were almost constant now and the rock which Naruto and Hinata were hiding behind had been blasted several times already.

Hinata could see with her byakugan the two nins trying to escape the flames, but because she had injured their knees they were tiring quickly and having a harder time dodging the 'mini-tornados' of fire as they came at them faster and faster. Finally one went down, then a split second later the other, they had both been engulfed by the flames, and completely incinerated.

The onslaught lasted another fifteen minutes before the fire ran out of oil for fuel, and the jutsu finally died down with one last tornado blast into the air.

* * *

After about five minutes of absolute silence, Naruto and Hinata slowly and shakily got up from behind what was left of their shelter and began to walk back to the clearing. Hinata was clinging to Naruto, his arm around her shoulders and his other hand holding her arm. She was frightened, "H-how did you do that Naruto-kun?" Naruto looked down at her and saw the frightened look on her face, he tightened his arms around her holding her closer, "Don't worry your safe." Hinata looked up into those sky blue eyes and believed, she smiled weakly and nodded her head. Naruto smiled back, "Ero-sennin taught me that, it's a forbidden jutsu, and he said that I should only use it when I really had too. I guess it was a little bit of overkill huh?" Hinata nodded meekly "I-I think it was. It… it was amazing though Naruto-kun. Y-you've gotten a lot stronger." 

Naruto almost looked like a kid again when he grinned at the compliment, except for the fact that he was a lot taller. "Thanks Hinata-chan! C'mon! lets see if we can find that damn earth scroll they had, those things are supposed to be indestructible!" And with that he grabbed her hand and began to lead her around the clearing in search of the scroll. She tightened her grip on his hand and walked beside him as they searched the ground.

It didn't take long, Naruto spotted the black scroll among a pile of ashes that made a vague outline of a human. As Naruto slowly pulled the scroll from the ashes and brushed it off with trembling hands, he was hit with what he had just done. He had killed. For the first time in his entire life, he had killed another human being.

Hinata saw Naruto-kun stop and tense. "N-Naruto-kun…?" She watched as Naruto fell to his knees and began to rock back and forth. He was sobbing. The realization that he just took two lives for the first time tearing up his insides.

He was excited about using his new jutsu, but now he realized what he had done. They may have been out to kill him and he was defending himself, but he had still killed, not once, but twice. They had died by his hands. He had not killed them in one on one combat like he always thought he would, but he had destroyed them, completely with a jutsu that could destroy almost anything in its path.

Hinata stood horrified, she had never seen Naruto-kun like this, why…? Then the realization came, he had just made his first two kills in his entire life. Hinata stood helplessly, what could she do, what could she possibly do to make it better?

A strange feeling came over her, she suddenly felt very protective of him, she wanted nothing more than to hold him and protect him from the world. She bent down and put her arms around him, he stiffened for a moment then wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to him and sobbing into her shoulder. "…please…" Hinata barely heard his whisper between his choking sobs, "…what is it Naruto-kun? I'm here, don't be afraid anymore, I'm here for you…" Naruto's body was wracked with his sobbing, "…please…please, don't leave me…please?"

Hinata felt her heart tear at the agony in his voice and what he asked of her. She sat down and cradled him in her arms, holding him close and stroking his face, "I'm never going to leave your side… ever. I swear it."

Naruto held her tighter finding peace in her touch.

* * *

Tsunade turned from the video screen where she had watched Naruto's and Hinata's fight with the grass and sound nin. "You taught him those jutsus Jaraiya?" She frowned at him, "That jutsu Naruto just did, I've only seen it done once before and that was done by the third, a long time ago." 

Jaraiya nodded gravely, "Yes, I did. He knows more jutsus than I can put a name to. Everywhere we went during our three years, Naruto would find the strongest person there and challenge him to a fight." Jaraiya chuckled to himself, though it was a bit grim, "He lost more often than not in the beginning, and each time he saw a new technique used on him he'd convince the person he challenged to teach him it. He had me teach him almost all the techniques I know, some of them he can't do because they are still too complicated for him, but ones like the 'Firestorm of the Armageddon' jutsu requires very little chakra compared to the amount of damage it can cause, that's why it's a forbidden jutsu." Jaraiya looked Tsunade in the eye, who was overcome by shock, "You have to admit he did have use for it, I'm just worried that he'll have to use it more often now."

The two former teammates stood in silence watching the video screen as Naruto found the heaven scroll and then broke down with the realization of his deed.

Tsunade felt a well of concern nearly overwhelm her, Jaraiya heard her sniff and turned to see her wiping tears from her eyes. "He's no longer a child anymore Jaraiya, he's beginning to lose his innocence." Jaraiya smiled knowingly, "Ah, that's why you put him with the Hyuuga girl, didn't you? She'll keep him alive and well, physically and more importantly, emotionally."

Tsunade nodded smiling a little bit, "He's in love with her, I can tell, he just doesn't know it yet." Jaraiya nodded, "He's in good hands." He paused for a moment, "Oh and another tidbit about our favorite ninja." Tsunade looked up from the screen questioningly, "He's mastered it." Tsunade frowned, "Mastered what?"

Jaraiya smiled, "The Rasengan, he's mastered all nine steps." Tsunade frowned, stunned at this statement, "But there's only eight steps." Jaraiya chuckled at that, "He found a ninth. And he can do it, he hasn't used it on anything other than inanimate objects, but I fear he may have to use the full power of the Rasengan sooner than hoped."

Tsunade was numbed by this tidbit of news, "Amazing… his brother would have been proud." Jaraiya looked up meaningfully "His entire family would have been proud, Tsunade, his entire clan would've been."

* * *

They stood outside the door to the tower, they hadn't run into any other teams while on their way here, it was the third day. They had camped the night before away from the wreckage that Naruto's jutsu had wrought. They had slept in each others arms again that night, finding peace and warmth with each other. She was never going to leave, him, she had promised it, and like him she intended to keep that promise. 

That morning they had awoken in each others arms for the second time in two days.

* * *

"I'm… sorry Hinata-chan about yesterday I mean, I didn't mean to break down like that…" They were both still wrapped in the blanket and neither of them had made a any move to get up. 

Hinata touched his face, and looked into his eyes, "I-it's okay Naruto-kun, really it was." Naruto smiled and hugged her again, "Thank you Hinata-chan, thank you so much… for everything."

Hinata couldn't believe it, he was thanking her? "No Naruto-kun..." Naruto frowned worriedly down at her, "… thank _you_, for everything." They held each other then, finding a comfort that they had never felt before.

It was many minutes before they parted, pink in the face and smiling to themselves, and began to pack up camp.

* * *

Now here they were, three days of trekking through the forest and braving its dangers. "You ready Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked up, remembering this morning and turning pink at the thought, Naruto-kun was back to his original self now, he had told her that it was because of her he had been able to make it through. She felt extremely proud at that statement and bit of determination began to form in her chest again, she would never leave him, she would always be there for him whenever he asked. She couldn't help thinking that he had made that exact same promise and that he also was going to keep it. She looked into those beautiful sky blue eyes and found warmth, the only other people who had ever exuded so much care with just a look, were her mother and Neji-niisan, ever since he started looking out for her. 

She smiled one of those smiles that for some reason made Naruto's heart skip a beat and begin to speed up, for the life of him he had no idea why. "Y-yes Naruto-kun… _we_ are ready." And with that she did the bravest thing she could've done, she grabbed his hand and began to lead them inside the tower. Naruto allowed himself to be pulled along feeling something warm come over him at the touch of Hinata-chan's hand.

Tsunade was right, he was in love, he just didn't know it yet…

* * *

Yes chapter five complete! Alright stay tumed for next time where there be alot more ass kicking and plenty of fluff to go around. I will update soon! 


	6. The Chuunin Exam! Part Two

Alright, this is my longest chapter so far, I had alot of stuff to put in it. So if there are spelling mistakes I didn't catch, then I apologize, but 10,000 words is alot of words!

This is to **Exerci, **I like your review, but I have always know the Rasengan having eight stages, even if it was a mistranslation, I like the idea of more stages to the Rasengan, and so I'm going to keep on with it. I really hope you don't mind, and I hope you enjoy the story more with what I added. But thank you, I like reviews like that, because they either point out things I can fix, or things I can reassure your concerns on, like this one. Thank you, and I hope for more reviews from you in the future.

anyway, another tidbit, there are some significant time jumps in your chapter, so pay attention closely, I don't want you gutys getting to confused.

Oh, and one more thing, I have my profile up ao you guys can look at it. I felt compelled to put it up because I got the wierd feeling that some of you think I'm a girl. I wish to let my gender (and other things about me) be known to you all.

Oh yeah, Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6: The Chuunin Exam! Part Two…** **And the Finding of the Heart.**

Naruto and Hinata entered the tower. Knowing what to do already, they opened both scrolls to begin the special summoning. There was a small flash of light and an explosion of smoke. As the smoke cleared, Naruto grinned happily.

"Iruka-sensei!" Iruka grinned back at Naruto, "Hey! Naruto! Oh, and of course hello to you too lady Hinata." Hinata blushed at the title, "I-I'm not a lady Iruka-sensei…" Naruto and Iruka both spoke at the same time "Nonsense!" They both looked at each other and began to laugh, causing Hinata to blush even more.

Iruka finally stopped laughing, "Ah, sadly this the end of the pleasantries, you two are the last to arrive, you worried me for a bit, all the other nine teams arrived yesterday."

Naruto's eyes widened, "All _nine_ teams?" Iruka nodded, "Yep, it looks like after three years we're going to have another preliminary round before the third part of the exam. Alright c'mon and follow me, you know where we're going." With that he began to lead them down a hallway and to another room, filled with the other eighteen genin. It was the same room where the preliminaries were held during Naruto's last chuunin exam. This was where he had defeated Kiba, probably by pure luck. Naruto turned blushed slightly at that memory, he remembered Lee-san saying something about how luck followed the strong. Maybe he was right.

Naruto was enjoying his memories of his and Kiba's fight until he noticed Hinata-chan's obvious irritation. She did not have such good memories of this place. "Hinata-chan…?" Hinata looked up at Naruto, that's when she realized they were both still holding hands and began to blush again. Naruto didn't seem to notice her turning pink, "Hinata-chan, don't worry, you're a lot stronger now, and with me to cheer you on you'll definitely win! There's no doubt about it!" Hinata smiled, and squeezed his hand to let him know that she was okay, she didn't trust her mouth right then. Naruto looked at her seriously for a moment, "Just remember that I'm always here…" he pointed to the spot he was standing, by her side "… and I'm not leaving it.

Hinata had to swallow back her tears, this was not the time to cry right now, even if it was out of happiness. They were now standing among the other genin, she could see the two sound nin on the other side of the group, farthest away from them. Naruto was looking at them to. She gripped his hand more tightly, feeling him do the same. The two sound nin were staring at them as well.

They were broken from their staring contest by none other than Tsunade, the fifth Hokage, Jaraiya stood on her right, Kakashi on her left, and the other jounin instructors stood to the side. "I am impressed by the numbers that have entered the tower, not all the teams that can make it here usually make it. I am informed to tell you…"

"ERO-SENNIN!" Naruto was jumping up and down, apparently not listening to Tsunade. "Did you see me kick the shit out of those two with that jutsu you taught me!" Tsunade was about to yell at Naruto for being rude when Jaraiya Jumped up in front of her.

"HELL YEAH! That was so awesome Naruto! I knew those two didn't stand a chance when I saw you use that huge water gathering jutsu!" Jaraiya suddenly went crashing to the floor sending spider cracks through the cement. He would awaken several hours later with a migraine and one huge lump on the back of his head, luckily though, without a concussion.

Naruto noticed Obaa-chan's eyebrows twitching and decided then was a good time to shut up. He saw Hinata-chan with her hand over mouth in a attempt to stop smiling. Naruto gently reached out and moved her hand away, "I like it when you smile like that Hinata-chan, you should do it more often."

Hinata looked down at her feet and was turning beet red again, she would of have twiddled her fingers as well, except in order to do so she would have to remove her hand from Naruto-kun's. From the corner of her eye she could see Naruto-kun blushing to.

Tsunade massaged her temples, "Now, if there aren't going to be anymore interruptions…" She glared threateningly at Naruto, causing him to gulp audibly, "… we can continue. As I was going to say, there are too many teams left, so for the first time in three years we will hold a preliminary round before the start of the third exam. We will hold it right now, the display" she pointed at the wall "Will tell us who is fighting who. Now everyone up onto the catwalk!"

As they all came onto the catwalk, Naruto and Hinata were joined by Kakashi-sensei. "I'm glad you made it this far Naruto, you did well during that fight you had in the forest." Naruto puffed up with the compliments. "But don't get to cocky, if you don't win the preliminary rounds you won't be able to see my final surprise."

Naruto paused at that, "Huh? Another one of your stupid 'surprises'? Yeah well don't worry about me or Hinata-chan, nobody can beat us, right Hinata-chan?" Hinata was toeing the ground in front of her, "We… we have grown a lot stronger Kakashi-sensei…"

Naruto smiled, "See? We're unstoppable!"

Kakashi just shook his head, smiling secretly to himself, he didn't doubt Naruto's words.

The head display rang and the first fight was displayed, it was a double knock-out. Everyone was surprised by this, but even more surprised when the second round was also a double knock-out. Kakashi raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, two double knock-outs in a row, interesting. The third fight involved one of the sound nin, Zeek, and a leaf genin.

Naruto watched closely, he wanted to see what these two sound nin could do. This one was easy to figure out, he defeated the leaf genin with what appeared to be blades of sound energy that he could throw. They left terrible gashes in the leaf genin's body, he hadn't stood a chance. Naruto flexed his hands and gritted the teeth, it weren't for the fact he would be disqualified he would of jumped that sound nin then and there. He lost his anger as the next fight showed the other sound nin, Pulse, fighting a stone nin. The stone nin could rip up ground with his bare hands and use the rocks as powerful projectiles. But as each rock came at Pulse they would simply explode about two feet away from the sound nin. He just stood there with his arms crossed, looking eerily like the calm and collected Gaara of the Desert. Suddenly the stone nin collapsed, gushing blood from his mouth, nose and ears. Naruto couldn't understand it, how did he do it? Did it have to do with sound? Naruto decided that this Pulse was the strongest of his three brothers.

* * *

In the next four fights those who won were a leaf nin who could turn herself into some sort of tree monster that could control plants, a stone nin who could cover himself in stone armor making himself nearly invulnerable, two cloud nins, one who wielded a spear of electricity and the other who channeled electricity through her skin, she just grabbed onto her opponent until he passed out from the electrical shock.

Finally it was Hinata's fight, she was worried at first that she would have had to fight Naruto-kun, she would have forfeited that one before he did so that he had a chance to become a chuunin. She was glad now she wouldn't have to, but she was nervous, the last time she fought here she was soundly beaten and badly injured by her cousin Neji. She was fighting a genin from the hidden mist village.

Before she turned to go, Kakashi spoke up, "Don't be nervous Hinata, just stay focused and you'll do fine." Naruto spoke up, "Kakashi-sensei is right, you can beat him no prob! Just remember that I'm right here, now go kick some misty ass!" Hinata couldn't help but smile at the encouragement.

Hinata went down the stairs to the floor, there waiting for her was her opponent. A tall and muscular man, he wore nothing but a pair of black shorts that came to the top of his knees and a pair of sandals with spikes on them, his head band was on his forehead with his dark brown hair done up in spikes, he grinned. Hinata noticed that he had sharpened canines. "I like to eat little girls… I had to kill a lot of them so that I could get here you know." Hinata's heart began to beat faster, he wanted to kill her!

Then she heard Naruto-kun's voice, "Kick his ass Hinata-chan! Wipe that ugly smirk off his face!" Hinata smiled, Naruto-kun would always be there for her, no matter what. The mist nin grimaced at the Naruto's words, "Shut up you ass! You won't be saying that once I'm done with her!" He then turned his grin back on Hinata.

His grin quickly dropped, she was smiling at him with a dangerous glint in her eye, no girl had looked at him like that before and those eyes! What the hell was up with that! White eyes? "Who the hell you think you're smirking at bitch! Fine I'll kill you quickly and get this over with!" girls usually looked at him with eyes full of fear, but this one, she looked at him like she planned on turning him into fried bacon. He didn't like it. He sealed and yelled "**Hidden Mist Jutsu!**" The most basic of the mist village's techniques, but sometimes one of the most useful.

The entire area that Hinata stood in was covered in thick fog. The only visible object to the onlookers was Hinata, but then she too was swallowed up. Hinata couldn't help but smile, he didn't know about her byakugan and what it could do. She held stock still and silently activated her blood limit, he was coming around behind her hoping to catch her off guard. Hinata waited.

_Hehe_. The bitch was scared witless, she was just standing there not knowing what to do. He was directly behind her, he was going to finish this quickly. He charged with a kunai in his hand, planning on stabbing her in the back, he thrust forward when she suddenly sidestepped and he stumbled forward. _How…?_

He was moving too slow, obviously thinking she couldn't see him, she easily side stepped his thrust, causing him to stumble forward and exposing the back of his neck. She gathered chakra into her two fingertips and slammed them into the back of his neck, just beneath the skull. He fell limply to the ground and the mist disappeared. "Wha… what did you do!" he was still conscious but not moving. She answered with contempt in her voice, "I severed the nerves from your brain to your body, your paralyzed from the neck down. Oh, and you shouldn't of told me that you enjoyed killing little girls, cause I made it permanent." He passed out before he was able to call her a bitch.

"WINNER! HYUUGA HINATA!" Hyuuga smiled at the cheering from Kakashi and Naruto and the other leaf genin that were still conscious. She shakily climbed the steps only to stumble into Naruto-kun's arms, "D-did I do well?" Naruto laughed and hugged her, "You did awesome Hinata-chan! Now, its my turn!" saying that, he let go of Hinata and jumped over the rail. Hinata silently wished him luck.

Naruto was confronted by a genin from the hidden sand village. Naruto smiled "So how is that Gaara doing? I haven't talked to him in awhile." The sand nin who was short and wore baggy black clothing that was tied at the waist and joints with white rope, stared blankly at Naruto. "That monster is our Kazekage. My parents say he should be disposed of." Naruto's eyes widened at the news. _Gaara's already Kazekage? I got to get working harder!_ Naruto's narrowed though at the other words the boy said. "Monster huh? You don't know anything about Gaara then, cause if you did you wouldn't be saying that." The sand nin only looked at him blankly, "I don't really care, I'm just going to beat you now so that I can go on to the third part of the exam and become a chuunin."

Naruto's eyes grew angry, this brat wanted to be a chuunin? He acted like he didn't even care! "Fine then, you want this over so bad? Then lets do it." Naruto charged gathering chakra to his hand "**Rasengan!**" He slammed Rasengan into the ground where the sand nin had been causing a small crater. _Shit! He's just as fast as Lee-san!_ He turned around and charged the sand nin again.

This continued on for another fifteen minutes, Naruto trying his best to hit the super fast sand nin and never landing a blow. Naruto noticed something though, he stopped for a moment, the sand nin rose a questioning eyebrow. "Why don't you try and hit me back?" Naruto didn't understand, this kid was faster than him and should have been trying to kick his butt. Matter of fact Naruto wanted him to attack him so he could use his handcuff jutsu on him like he did to Lee-san, but the sand nin merely evaded him waiting for the last second to dodge and appear behind him about ten feet away.

The sand nin slowly smiled, Naruto thought it looked kinda creepy, "I may be fast, but I'm not very strong, I wouldn't be able to hurt you if I tried. So I just let my opponents tire themselves out and wait until they're too weak to defend themselves before I finish them off." The kid actually chuckled at that.

Naruto glared "You're a coward! I can't believe you call yourself shinobi! You can't even stand up for yourself in a one on one fight so you kick your opponent when he's down. You make me sick." The sand nin's smile disappeared, "Again, I don't care."

Naruto grimaced, "Fine." He had a plan, he had used shuriken on the kid already and of course he dodged it. But he noticed he only dodged it at the last second. Naruto ran away from the kid, ran up the wall and jumped into the air. The sand nin only smiled thinking he was going to attempt another Rasengan. Naruto however, with his back turned on the sand nin, slipped the Fuuma Shuriken from his pack, the one Sakura-chan had given him, and opened it. He did some quick seals and whispered something. He did all of this in the span of a second.

The sand nin watched as the blonde ninja giant twisted in mid-air and threw a particularly large shuriken at him. Didn't he know that those kind of attacks were too slow. _What an idiot._ His eyes widened though when there was a huge shockwave.

In the middle of the shuriken's flight there was a giant sonic boom that shook the walls as it instantly sped up past the speed of sound. Because of the speed change it caught the sand nin off guard, he still dodged it, but then the sonic boom hit him tearing off his right arm and leaving only a bloody stump, "Aagh!" The shuriken blasted through the far wall of the room into the open, circled upward, slowing down then coming back through the thirty foot hole it created where it was deftly snatched from the air by Naruto and stored in his pack. _Thank you Sasuke._ "How did you like my 'Sonic Shuriken Jutsu'? You can run around all you want now, you'll die from blood loss though."

The sand nin was holding his bloody shoulder and staring at Naruto with wide eyes. He then promptly fell forward onto his face and blacked out. "WINNER! UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

Naruto stood in the middle of the damaged arena as everyone else who had won came down to stand before the Hokage. Naruto hugged Hinata again when she reached him. Hinata noticed that she was quickly getting use to these hugs she was receiving, she hoped he didn't stop giving them.

Tsunade stepped down from the dais in order to address the assembled genin, "Well done to those who have made it this far, I must say that your combat skills are up to par. But you'll have to show them off again in the third part of the exam. It will be a tournament that will be attended by many lords and almost the entire leaf village. It will be held one month from now." Tsunade paused for a moment to allow that to sink in. Many of the first timers were very surprised. "Also, those of you who have taken the third part of the exam before fought in one on one battles, this time you will be fighting with a partner." There were some cries of objection against this, most of them saying that they had already done the second part of the exam with partners.

Tsunade waited patiently, she was pleased to see that Naruto and Hinata were not complaining, "There are eight of you, so four teams, team one and two will fight, then team three and four will fight, the two winners of those bouts will fight for first place…" Tsunade continued to tell them how they may not become chuunin even if they did win, and because one partner became chuunin didn't mean the other did as well. "Now I will list off the teams. Team one, Zeek and Pulse of the sound village…" Tsunade was surprised, Naruto and Hinata were on team four, these were also picked randomly but she didn't tell them that. It looks like Naruto and Hinata had pure luck on their side this time. Tsunade smiled at that before she addressed the genin again. "Now you have one month to train and relax, we'll see you at the stadium then… dismissed."

As everyone turned to go Kakashi noticed the jounin instructor for the sound pulling his students outside away from the rest of the group. He turned to Naruto and Hinata, "You two go ahead, I've got to check out something." Naruto and Hinata both nodded and continued on their way. Kakashi turned to were the sound nins had disappeared and followed them. He found them in a small clearing of trees, he hid himself in some bushes attempting to stay as quiet as possible.

* * *

"…no, you will wait until the tournament to complete your mission." That was the jounin instructor, one of the students complained, "But it would be so much easier if we killed him now, when he least expected it." The jounin was furious, "I said NO, Zeek! That is an order from the Snake Sannin himself, you will wait until the tournament. It will be expected and draw less attention when you finally kill Uzumaki Naruto. Now go! Last time I checked you two had a month to train, now get out of my sight!"

Kakashi waited until the two genin left before revealing himself. The jounin seemed unsurprised, "Ah, copy ninja Kakashi, listening in on our little conversation? Too bad you can't do anything about it, since killing is perfectly legal during the tournament." Kakashi noticed that this sound shinobi was dressed like any other sound nin, grey robes and a purple rope belt tied in a bow at the back, with two katanas strapped to his back.

Kakashi frowned, "Yes too bad, but I must say I do hold a grudge against anyone who targets my students specifically. And to tell you the truth that's usually enough for me to kill indiscriminately." Kakashi pushed up the left side of his forehead protector revealing the scarred eye that held his sharingan. "Its enough for me to kill you and violate the rules to tell you the truth."

The sound nin smirked, "There will be no fighting today Hatake Kakashi, don't worry though, you and I will battle soon enough. Remember my name, I am Duseto, and I look forward to killing you personally." And with that he disappeared.

Kakashi didn't bother chasing after Duseto, _If we are going to fight soon, might as well wait until then._ _At least Naruto already knows about it, he'll be prepared._ Kakashi turned to go, wondering what abilities this new adversary had, and what would happen in his new book, given personally to him by none other than Jaraiya-sama, 'Return to Come Come Paradise'.

* * *

"Come on Hinata-chan! One more, pleeeease!" Naruto was trying his best to look pathetic, knowing that Hinata-chan seemed to do what he wanted when he asked nicely.

Hinata couldn't help but smile, "Naruto-kun I'm tired, you know you have a lot more energy than me." Naruto stuck out his lip, "Just one more? Please?" Hinata rolled her eyes and smiled, shaking her head she knew she was going to be too tired to do anything else the rest of the day, "One more, promise?" Naruto-kun grinned and stood up, he had gotten down on his knees, and held his hand over his heart, "I promise." Hinata rolled her eyes again, she knew she her muscles were going to give her hell for this.

Neji watched from the sidelines, Hinata and Naruto were sparring in the courtyard, this had to be their sixth match in a row so far. Hinata was getting tired, but because of her byakugan she dodged or blocked almost all the blows. Almost, she was hit a couple of times, but Neji noticed that Naruto didn't hit hard like he would against someone else, even if it was just a sparring match. Matter of fact he barely touched her, just pushing with his fist or foot enough to let her know she was hit, and she did the same back. Neji smiled to himself, even now, only four days away from the tournament they would never risk hurting each other.

Neji was impressed, Hinata had improved immensely the pat three and a half weeks. He was seeing her in action for the first time, she and Naruto appeared to be two blurs moving across the sand of Naruto's courtyard.

No one had seen the two since they came back from the first two parts of the exam, for the day after they immediately began to train together. In order to keep anybody from spying on them they trained exclusively at Naruto's. Hinata would get up at six a.m. to go over to Naruto's and would come back late at night so tired she would take a shower and go directly to bed. Neji never got a chance to talk to her, no one did, Naruto locked his gates when Hinata came over to keep out unwanted eyes. Neji was suspicious at first, until he realized that even if Hinata had the courage to do such things, she was in love and it would be her choice, not his, and he had grown to trust Naruto.

He wasn't the only one watching them though, Tenten and Lee stood by, while Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba and Shino watched from the other side of the courtyard. Ino and Sakura sat on the doorsteps of the main building whispering to each other as Naruto and Hinata had their 'mock' battle.

Finally they stopped, Hinata had lost this time making it three to three, at tie. She realized that Naruto-kun didn't enjoy losing and had wanted one more chance, if she had won he would have given in, he was a pretty good sport for someone who was so competitive. They were both breathing hard and sweaty, Naruto-kun peeled off his shirt and called out to Lee-san to see if he wanted to spar. Lee-san ended up taking his shirt off to and jumping off the boardwalk, facing Naruto. Naruto looked over his shoulder at Hinata, "You go ahead and take your shower, after I'm done messing around with Lee-san I'll take mine and we can all hang out for a bit." He smiled and turned back to Lee-san. Hinata just stared dumbly, for the past three weeks she had only seen Naruto-kun without his shirt on a couple of times, each time her heart sped up and that heat started to spread through her body.

She turned around quickly and headed for the main building where she would take her shower in one of the guest bedrooms on the second floor. She had actually moved some of her stuff into that room, because it was more convenient than having to bring things back and forth from her house to Naruto-kun's. Naruto was the one who had convinced her to do it. It was a pretty good idea she had to admit, after all she spent most of her past days at Naruto-kun's, she only used her house to take a shower right before bed and to sleep. She ate all her meals at Naruto's, and even when they weren't training they did what Naruto-kun liked to call their 'hang-out session'.

Naruto had commented on their first day back how Tsunade-sama had said to relax as well as train, and so they shouldn't train _all_ day. Hinata had taken it at first that she was being dismissed and she should go home and rest, and was about to go when Naruto had said she should eat at his house, he had plenty of ramen for the both of them and they could just sit and talk. Hinata was terrified of thought, what was she going to talk about with him? She wanted to though so she had agreed. And now for the past six weeks, they would take breaks at meal time, sit down in the living room and just well… talk.

* * *

It was hard at first, Hinata couldn't think of anything to talk about, so Naruto would just talk about their training at first, and then he would ask her how life was like living in a clan household. He would ask her things like what did she like to do, or what were her favorite things, like color and food. She couldn't help but answer and stutter all the answers at that. But finally after the first week, she had worked up enough courage to ask him what his favorite things were. He had answered immediately, going into detail, especially about ramen. He then said at last that he enjoyed being around her. That's when she had just said screw it and just started talking about herself, at first she was afraid that Naruto-kun didn't want to hear, but he would ask questions, prompting her to go on. And he did the same. Hinata noticed that gradually, but surely, in those past three and half weeks she had lost her stutter when she talked to him, she also met his eyes more often when she talked to him, and she didn't twiddle her fingers when he was around.

She began to realize that Naruto-kun not only enjoyed talking to her, but he _wanted_ to talk to her. Just talk and learn as much as possible about her, and so she did the same because she felt that's what she wanted, she really wanted to learn as much about him as well though, so it didn't take much for her to work up her courage and ask him things about himself. She almost never stuttered around him now, except when he did things like hug her or take off his shirt. She couldn't help it, whenever he did those sort of things she would feel her entire body heat up, and her heart beat faster, causing her to slip back into her stutter for a moment. She wondered sometimes what she would do if she just let that strange heat take over, but she never got far, embarrassed by what it could mean. Naruto-kun had started calling it their 'hang-out sessions' ever since the first day.

One day, about two and half weeks in, Hinata had gotten enough courage to ask Naruto-kun what she thought was a personal question. He had already asked her some pretty personal ones, but considered it different if she asked one.

* * *

It was night, and the full-moon was out, Hinata was going to go home in about a half an hour. She and Naruto-kun were sitting on the sand in his courtyard, under the stars. Hinata had been wanting to ask him, because she had told him about her personal life like what her family was really like and how hard it had been living up to her father's expectations all the time. But she had never asked him about what his personal life was like. She didn't want to seem like she was intruding, but she felt like she had to know this.

They had been sitting under the stars already for almost an hour when she finally brought herself to open her mouth and ask. "N-Naruto-kun?" Naruto turned to look down at her, "Yeah Hinata-chan?" She breathed in deeply, she had taken the first step, best not to back off now. "What is it like… Living alone?"

Naruto turned his face away to hid expression from Hinata. "Why do you want to know that for?" He asked softly. Hinata was shocked, he had never asked her a reason before, he had just simply answered, "I-I'm s-sorry, I shouldn't have asked…" Naruto turned to look at her. She was shocked at the amount of pain he showed on his face. "It's no that Hinata-chan, I just… need to know why you're asking."

Hinata took another breathe, "Because… because I feel like I need to know… I don't know, s-sorry." Naruto shook his head, "No its ok, I'll tell you, because I think I need to also." Hinata waited patiently, was his life really that bad?

Naruto finally spoke, "They all hate me you know." Hinata's eyes widened, "Who?" Naruto sighed, "You're father, and almost every elder and adult in this village. Its true, I can feel their hatred, especially when they all look at me, their eyes… they're like ice." Naruto took a deep breath, "When I was little, I lived in an orphanage, they always told me that someday someone would come and be my parents, someday I would have… a family." Naruto was swallowing now and having a hard time talking. Hinata reached out, but didn't touch him afraid he would stop.

"They never came Hinata-chan, I watched as every kid in the orphanage was chosen for adoption until I was the only one left. I would try ,my best and be nice to the adults who came by, but they always gave me those looks, those cold looks, and their children mirrored them, they started acting the same way, ignoring me when I came out to play, telling me to go away when I wanted to go with them to the candy store, even my caretakers tried their best to ignore me when they could. I usually had to get my own food, because my nannies would forget, and I ate in the back of the kitchen because no one would let me sit with them. Finally, my twelfth birthday came, no one celebrates it you know, it was the day the kyuubi attacked. And the third Hokage gave me my own apartment and provided me with money so I could buy myself food and clothes." Naruto sniffed and rubbed at something in his eyes, "I'm wasn't as strong as you thought I am Hinata-chan, I only acted tough, I told you this at the training posts that one day, I know, but it was true, I was afraid that everyone at school would treat me like I was at the orphanage that I acted like I did to make sure that people at least acknowledged the fact that I was there. I didn't have any friends… not until Iruka-sensei that is, then all of a sudden I started to get friends. I was suddenly not alone anymore. I wondered it was like having a family, if Iruka-sensei was like a father, and Sasuke… if he was like… like a brother." Naruto was rubbing his eyes constantly now and was shaking, "Sakura-chan, I wanted her as my girlfriend because she was one of the hardest to get, she was interested in Sasuke. But now I wonder if she's more of a sister now than anything else. Everybody else was there to help me too, and especially you Hinata-chan." Hinata jerked at the mention of her name, she was so engrossed in his words, "M-me?" she squeaked. "Yeah you, you made me feel strong again when we talked at the training posts that one day, and then when we started training for the first time, you gave me another purpose. And now, I know more about you than anybody else, you're the first person to tell me so much about themself, I feel like I know you best out of everybody in the whole world."

Hinata couldn't believe it, his life had so much pain in it, he then turned to her smiling weakly, his eyes were red and tears ran down his cheeks, "You probably _are_ the person that I know best Hinata-chan… I don't know what I would've done if it weren't for all of you. I don't know what I would've done if I was still alone." Hinata, abandoning everything her mind was telling her, reached up and cradled his face and then held his head to her shoulder hugging him like she did that one day in the Forest of Death. Naruto couldn't hold back anymore, he began to cry into her shoulder without restraint, spilling out his pain for the stars, the moon and for her to see.

After he had finally calmed down a bit, he had just kept his head where it was, which Hinata was grateful for, she didn't want him to move. "Hinata-chan?" Hinata looked down at him and smiled softly "Yes?" Naruto looked up so their eyes were meeting, "Umm, I don't know why I'm saying this, other than I think I need to. I, uh… can't stop thinking about you." Hinata's heart nearly stopped, and suddenly was beating at a million beats a second. "I don't know why, but for some reason when I think of you, or when you smile or when we hug, I'm really, really… happy. And that's only one of the feelings, I can't even start to figure out the other ones, but I can definitely tell you that I'm happy when you're around. I don't ever plan on leaving your side, as long as you don't want me to, and I hope that you do the same, because I…uh, don't want you to leave."

Hinata could feel the tears starting to form "Y-yes, of course I don't want you to leave, and I promised you that I wouldn't leave your side either, remember? A-and I don't want to leave your side Naruto-kun." Naruto smiled up at her, "Thank you again Hinata-chan, you always seem to know what to say to make me happy."

Hinata smiled, forcing back the tears she was about to shed, "N-N-Naruto-kun…?" Naruto looked up again, "Yeah?" _I love you Naruto-kun_ is what she wanted to say, "Umm… nothing…just, you make me happy to."

Naruto frowned for a moment, but then smiled warmly, "That's good, I'm glad I make you happy to Hinata-chan." Naruto decided if she didn't want to tell him then that was okay, "Don't you have to go home?" Hinata looked down at him, I can stay for a bit longer. Naruto smiled and leaned on her shoulder. Hinata breathed deeply, trying to keep that heat from overcoming her.

She didn't get home until much later that night.

* * *

Hinata smiled at those memories as she walked to the main building and her much needed shower. She and Naruto had grown closer, especially after their conversation a week ago. They had shared secrets, some she had not even told Neji-niisan before, she never wanted this to end, she wanted to be by Naruto-kun until the day she died, she hoped his promise stayed strong, cause she knew hers would.

As she walked past Ino and Sakura on the steps they got up and followed her inside. "Hey Hinata-chan wait up!" Hinata turned around, draping her towel over her shoulders, "Y-yes?" She still stuttered when she talked to other people other than Naruto-kun.

Ino walked so she was standing right in front of her and Sakura circled behind her, she was taller than both of them, but they made her seem very small all of a sudden. Ino grinned evilly, "So… I hear you and Naruto have been hanging out almost none stop now." Hinata just nodded her head, eyes wide and a little frightened. Sakura giggled behind her. "You see, Sakura and I were just wondering… have you two kissed yet?"

Hinata almost choked from the coughing she had. "Wh-what makes you say that!" Sakura shrugged, "Oh well you know, you two, _alone _for the past, what, month now? If you include his first week back. I was just beginning to think that you two were more than just friends, cause you know, I've never seen _just_ friends hug so much."

Hinata was stunned, "No! Its not like that! Not at all!" Ino raise an eyebrow or smiled, "Are you saying that you don't want it to be like that?"

"NO!… I mean… I don't know." Ino raised both eyebrows, Sakura did the same, "I see now, you like him… _a lot_, and you can't bring yourself to tell him." Hinata stared mutely at the ground in front of her, knowing she was caught and preparing herself for the reasons they would tell her not to chase after him.

Instead both girls squealed and began hugging Hinata. "Oh my god! We're so happy for you Hinata-chan!" Hinata felt numb, "Huh?" Sakura held Hinata's shoulders so she could look her in the eye, "Ino and I have been talking, and we think you two are perfect for each other! You go girl! I would've said yuck about you liking him three years ago when I didn't know him, but now, especially after he somehow got that hot bod' of his, you deserve him." Hinata couldn't speak for a moment she was stuttering so badly, "B-b-b-but Naruto-kun… h-he doesn't l-like me like th-that."

Sakura and Ino both rolled their eyes as one, Ino spoke up, "Trust me Hinata, he likes you, he just doesn't know it yet. All you need to do is tell him how you feel about him and find that he likes you to. Trust me, I can see it." She smiled that evil smile again, "Now you go wash up, we don't want to leave our Naruto-kun waiting do we?"

Hinata turned pink, Sakura came up and smiled at her warmly, "You and Naruto will make such a good couple, if you _ever_ need our help with knocking some sense into him then let us know." And with that, both gave the lavender-eyed girl warm hugs before they turned to go back out into the courtyard and watch Lee and Naruto's match.

Hinata walked numbly to her 'room' and into the shower, thinking about everything that Sakura and Ino had said to her. Halfway through her shower she was smiling to herself and humming wordlessly.

* * *

After Naruto finished with his sparring, which ended up with Neji, Kiba and Chouji joining in as well, they all took showers and then everyone was treated to ramen as they sat in the living room talking about things like the chuunin exam, and this years class of genin. Hinata was unusually silent, do to the fact that she was blushing so much from the expressions and hand gestures Sakura and Ino threw at her when no one else was looking.

The next three days passed in much the same way, with everyone spending as much time together as possible at Naruto's house and Hinata and Naruto training. When everyone went home for the night, Hinata would stay late and have their 'hang-out session' with Naruto-kun, they mostly talked about the upcoming tournament, but they talked about themselves as well when they veered off topic.

The past month was all happy memories for both Naruto and Hinata.

* * *

They stood on the special balcony where the fighters would stand and wait for their match. Each standing next to their partner that they had been training with the for last month. Hinata and Naruto held hands, like they did in the tower one month ago, reassuring each other with occasional squeezes of the hand.

The stadium was full to bursting, people sat on the walls and steps so they could see the fights, for three Kages had come from their countries to witness the tournament. In addition to the Hokage there was the Tsuchikage of the hidden stone, the Raikage of the hidden cloud, and Gaara, the Kazekage of the hidden sand. No one knew why he was there since no sand genin had made it this far, but he was one of the judges and he had brought a good portion of the sand village with him.

It was time to begin.

The referee and announcer was none other that Hatake Kakashi himself. "Teams one and two, step forward!" Naruto and Hinata watched as the leaf and cloud nin jumped down off the balcony followed by the two sound nin, Zeek and Pulse. Kakashi raised his hand when both teams where in their right places, then he made a chopping motion and yelled "Begin!"

The battle was literally over in a matter of moments. The leaf genin transformed into her tree form and tried to capture Zeek with her roots, Zeek's sound blades however cut through her roots and consequently her as well. She fell and transformed back to normal, except her normal from had deep and bloody gashes in her side. At the same time the cloud nin had thrown his spear of lightning at Pulse, the spear discharged five feet away from Pulse, and suddenly the cloud nin went down, bleeding from his orifices.

The fight was over before it had hardly begun. "Winners! Zeek and Pulse!" Kakashi kept a wary eye on the two sound nins as they walked back to the balcony. The medics quickly rushed out and gathered the two fallen nins. The crowd was cheering and booing of course, some liking the fight, others thinking it too short, and others thinking it too brutal.

"Teams three and four, step forward!" Hinata and Naruto climbed down and went to their spot, the big stone nin and the cloud kunoichi standing across from them. The stone nin looked like Chouji, except he was completely bald and his eyes were dark and hard, he wore nothing but his shorts. The cloud nin had long silvery hair, just like her twin brother in the previous fight, she wore short shorts and a tube top, exposing as much of her skin as possible and still being discreet.

Kakashi yelled "Begin!" The stone nin stepped forward, "Don't worry, I'll handle this, its just a little girl and some blonde surfer." The cloud nin glared at him and screamed "That wasn't the plan you idiot!" The stone nin shrugged "I say save the plan for that Zeek and Pulse, they're definitely stronger than these two." And with that he performed several hand seals and yelled at the top of his deep voice "**Impenetrable Armor of Rock and Stone!**" And then he charged. As he ran earth and rock ripped itself from the ground and flew towards him, attaching to his skin and melding to his body, so that he looked like he was wearing medieval armor that covered him from head to foot, even his face was covered, leaving only his eyes showing. Large pieces of jagged rock jutted out of his shoulders and joints, and particularly sharp rocks protruded form his fists and feet. As he moved the ground shook from his increased weight, but even though he couldn't run as fast his momentum was building. The cloud nin behind him was yelling at him to stop and get his ass back there.

Hinata had an idea pop into her head like light bulb. She jumped in front of a startled Naruto, right in the path of the charging wall of rock. "Hinata-chan what are you doing!"

Hinata looked over her shoulder at Naruto her byakugan was activated, "Use your Rasengan!" Naruto frowned looking at the closing figure of stone. "I don't even think a Rasengan will stop that!" Hinata smiled, "I just need you to stop him from crushing us and my arms. I can get through that armor!" Naruto smiled and nodded instantly catching on. As one they began to gather and spin chakra into their palms.

Hinata had to get the angle perfect for her plan to work, it had only been a couple of seconds since the stone nin began to charge, another second and he was going to crush him. Right when he was on top of them Naruto screamed "**Rasengan!**" and slammed it into the stone nins armored chest. Just above Hinata's head. It wasn't getting through, but it had definitely stopped him in his tracks. The stone nin grunted in surprise as the Rasengan began to dig in and tear up the outer layer of his armor.

Hinata slammed both her palms into the chest of the armored stone nin and screamed "**Jyuuken Arrows!**" The stone nins eyes widened in surprise, and he paused as spasms ran through his body. He fell to his knees, his armor crumbling off of him as he spat up blood and collapsed unconscious.

The cloud nin smiled, "Idiot, oh well I can handle both of you anyway, I know I can beat you in close quarters. Prepare to receive as ass kicking." She then took a step forward and paused as a spasm ran through her body. Hinata and Naruto smiled "Nice shot Hinata-chan! Two birds with one stone, awesome!" The cloud nin had enough time to look up in surprise as she too spat up blood and passed out.

"Winners! Naruto and Hinata!" Hinata and Naruto and Hinata hugged, Naruto picking her up and twirling her around. Kakashi couldn't help smile at the sight.

* * *

Neji couldn't help smiling either, Hinata had told him that she had a secret technique that Naruto had taught her and that he would have to wait and see until the tournament. _She can use jyuuken at a distance…amazing.

* * *

_

"Team one! Zeek and Pulse! Step forward!" Hinata and Naruto quickly became somber as the two sound nins placed themselves across from them. They both wore the gray robes and purple rope belts of the sound nin, Zeek was of mid height and he wore a classic ninja mask that had an armored mouth plate and his forehead protector rested upon his head at a slight angle, he had two gauntlets on that Naruto noticed was where his sound blades came from. Pulse was completely bald, his forehead protector tied to his upper forearm, his eyes were the creepiest, pure black, with no visible iris or pupil. "Team one and team four, the final round! Begin!" Kakashi dropped his hand and both sides instantly exploded into movement.

Hinata and Naruto split up and ran sideways as Zeek threw his sonic blades at them, tearing apart the ground and walls where he missed. Both Naruto and Hinata circled back around so that they flanked the two standing sound nins. Hinata on the side with Zeek who decided it was easier to focus his blades on Hinata, Naruto on Pulse's side who stood there staring at his charge, his arms crossed.

Hinata easily dodged all the blades easily thanks to her byakugan and training with Naruto, except when she was nearly on him he caught her with a graze to the ankle she went down, hard.

Naruto jumped into the air and slammed his Rasengan towards the waiting figure at Pulse when he suddenly hit a solid wall of nothing, that not only stopped him but pushed him back several feet before disappearing. Naruto suddenly realized why he was called Pulse, he could send out Pulses of invisible but tangible chakra from every point of his body in a sphere. The wall apparently stopped everything.

Hinata looked up to see Zeek standing over her, "Bitch!" He kicked her in the stomach, "Ugh!", He then reached up his hand and formed a sound blade, "I'm going to enjoy cutting you up little girl. And once I'm done with you, guess what? I'm going to personally hand your peeled face to that blonde freak over there right before I rip out his heart." He began to cackle madly as he raised him arm higher for the final strike.

Something snapped inside Hinata.

She jumped up ignoring the pain in her ankle, surprising Zeek and grabbing his sound blade with both of her hands as he brought it down. She had gathered chakra into her hands to keep them from being cut. Zeek began to increase the power to his blade, Hinata did likewise. They stood there increasing their chakra trying to overwhelm the other. Wind started to whip their clothes and small pebbles and loose soil began to float around them. Zeek smiled he was winning, Hinata was running out of chakra.

Zeek pushed her to her knees and began pressing his blade to her face. _No._ Hinata completely tapped into the armbands that Naruto-kun had given her and screamed as all the chakra of the armbands rushed into her and into hands in an instant. "aaaahhhhahhhahahAAHHAHAHHHAAAHHHHHHHHH! They both screamed, Hinata's sounding inhuman and infused with the voice of someone else. The ground was ripping up around them and they were starting their own crater as their chakra tore up the ground around them. Hinata stood up… and pushed all her chakra into the sound nin's blade.

Naruto was blinded by a flash of light and whipped his head around at the sound of the explosion behind Pulse. "HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto ran around Pulse, completely ignoring him, Pulse did likewise, hardly caring what happened to his teammate.

"Hinata-chan!" She was on the ground on her side, Naruto kneeled and rolled her over, her eyes were closed and blood was leaking from her eyes and mouth. Her hands were badly burned on the palms and her shoulder was a bloody mess. "Hinata-chan! Wake up…Please!" Hinata let out a soft groan. "Hinata-chan! Please!" He shook her gently, "Please Hinata-chan…" He squeezed his eyes shut, unable to stop the tears form getting through.

"Na… Naruto-kun…?" Naruto snapped open his eyes, "Hinata-chan? You're alright!" Hinata let out a cough that spewed forth blood onto her jacket. "Hinata-chan? You…you _are_ okay, right?" Hinata smiled up at him and gently shook her head "I-I'm sorry Na-Naruto-kun…" She coughed again, bringing forth more of the precious life fluid. Naruto picked her up gently and cradled her, "Hinata-chan… no… you can't…" He was sobbing now.

Hinata put a hand on his face, "I'm s-sorry Naruto-kun… that I couldn't keep my promise… I… I tried." Naruto's face contorted in agony "NO! You can't leave me! You promised! You have to keep your promises!" Hinata smiled gently keeping her hand on his face, "I don't think I can this time N-Naruto-kun… I'm so s-sorry…" Naruto couldn't bear it, his insides were being torn apart, "No! don't be sorry, just stay with me… please…"

Hinata began to cry, "I'm sorry Naruto, I-I'm dying, I can feel it." Naruto sobbed and choked, "NO! you can't die on me Hinata-chan! You can't leave me alone!" Hinata smiled through her tears, "I'll always be with you." She soughed again before speaking, "Naruto-kun…?" Naruto bent closer, "Wha-what it is it Hinata-chan?" Hinata smiled and choked on a sob, "Remember that night we talked under the s-stars?" Naruto nodded slowly, "Remember I wanted to tell you s-something?" Naruto was crying, "Please tell me Hinata-chan…" He had to keep her talking.

"Naruto-kun… I… I love you… I love you with all my heart!"

Naruto suddenly felt himself pulled into a kiss, his eyes went wide for a moment at what was happening, but then, he closed his eyes and kissed her back. Hinata sighed and fell back, a small smile on her lips, "…I love you… Naruto-kun…" She closed her eyes and went limp in his arms.

"HINATA-CHAAAAAN!"

Naruto set her down, tore off her jacket and pressed his ear against her chest. _Please!_

Thu-Thump.

She was alive! There was still a chance! Naruto looked over his shoulder pleadingly. Kakashi got the message "Time-out! MEDICS get your asses over here! Two critically injured!" The medics rushed out and gathered up both genins. Naruto grabbed the nearest medic and glared in his face while pointing one finger at the Hinata's retreating stretcher "If she dies, I'm going to hunt you down and kill you! Do you understand me!" The medic gulped and nodded his head, he then ran towards as he was shoved by Naruto to follow.

Kakashi turned to the crowd, "In the event of a double K.O. time is called, both incapacitated combatants are taken off the field and the fight resumes as a one on one match!" _Man, I hope they don't find out I'm lying.

* * *

_

Tsunade grinned at Kakashi's words, she wasn't going to say anything, she turned to the other Kages, she hated dressing up in this doohickey robe, but custom required it. "He's perfectly correct, I wrote the rules myself." The other Kages nodded their heads, Gaara as well who gave Tsunade a sideways glance though. _Note to self, write down new rule in exam rule book incase anyone wants to check._ Besides she thought it was a perfect rule, even though it was made up on the spot.

* * *

Kakashi turned to the remaining two combatants. "You will now fight one on one to determine the winner. Begin!"

Naruto whipped his head over his shoulder and shot a glare at Pulse, "Why do you want me dead." Naruto's voice was almost a whisper, a deadly whisper.

Pulse sighed "It does not matter, I'm going to kill you anyway, no one has ever beaten me." Naruto growled, "Where the fuck is Sasuke!" Again Pulse smirked, a frightening thing since his onyx black eyes remained devoid of any emotion. "You don't know? I guess you wouldn't since there hasn't been any shinobi out looking for him in over six months."

Naruto's eyes widened, he didn't want to believe it, but he did. He shot a glare up at where Obaa-chan was sitting. He would deal with that later. He turned back to Pulse, "Never beaten huh? Well apparently you've never fought me before."

Pulse smiled, showing teeth, "I'm going to enjoy killing you Uzumaki Naruto, and then after I'm done with you, I'm going to go and watch the little wench die. I'll laugh as I watch that piece of trash's pathetic and useless life slip away." And he did laugh, a high pitched cackle that clearly showed that he was not sane.

Something forcefully and audibly cracked inside of Naruto. _Give me your power you stupid fox._ _Give me all you got._

Energy began to emanate from Naruto's body, then speeding up and turning his chakra red. Wind began to gust off of Naruto's body and small pebbles began to shake and then rise off of the ground. His eyes turned blood red and cat-like, his whisker marks thickened and lengthened, his nails lengthened into claws and his canines lengthened into one inch fangs. He looked up at Pulse and glared, growling between his clenched fangs.

Pulse stopped laughing, eyes going wide. What the hell was this! What the hell was he doing that he changed physically like that and his chakra jumped so high?

Naruto wasn't done though, the chakra began to bubble from his skin, being too much for his body to contain, the blood red chakra eerily took on the form of a fox that overlapped with Naruto's body. Naruto began to form the Rasengan in his right hand._ She loves me._

Pulse began to panic for the first time in his life, he had _never _seen so much chakra, not even coming from a Kage! "You fool! That didn't work before and it won't work again!"

Naruto growled, "We'll see." His voice sounding like many voices speaking together and growling animals all at once. Naruto charged and jumped into the air. _She loves me!_

Pulse's heart sped up at the oncoming monster, he was expected to kill this! No! He had never been beaten before, he wasn't going to lose now! He gathered all of his chakra and let it out in one powerful pulse, he was going to tear him to shreds in one hit!

Naruto slammed the Rasengan into the pulse wall. He wasn't pushed back though, he was just frozen there, his Rasengan only two feet away from Pulse's face. _How!_ Pulse couldn't believe it, he was fighting his barrier! "You can't get past my barrier, no matter how hard you try freak!"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and grunted with the strain of staying in one spot, "Then it looks like I'll have to bring it to the next level then don't I?" Pulse's eyes widened "What!"

Naruto's Rasengan suddenly started to stretch and warp around his entire arm up to his shoulder. Making his arm look like a tornado. "That's level four." Naruto's hand came another foot towards Pulse's face. Pulse was sweating and panicking. _No way!_

Naruto growled, "Looks like level four isn't enough, guess what pal? You get to see level five of my Rasengan!" Pulse screamed "NO!" as the whirlwind of chakra around Naruto's shoulder began to widen and fan out, making it wide at his shoulder and a point at his hand, so that the Rasengan looked like a giant whirling drill. Naruto began to push.

Pulse's barrier shuddered, Naruto saw his chance and gave one final push with all of his might. _SHE LOVES ME!_

The barrier shattered as the Rasengan slammed into Pulse's face, tearing it to shreds in seconds and causing his skull to explode.

* * *

Naruto kneeled over the decapitated form of Pulse as the kyuubi chakra slowly receded into his body. The crowd was silent. Kakashi came over and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You had to, he was going to kill you anyway." Naruto looked up into his sensei's eye, "I know Kakashi-sensei, but I wanted to this time, this time it was personal." Kakashi took Naruto's hand and raised it above his head, pulling Naruto up.

"Tournament Winner! Uzumaki Naruto!" The entire crowd exploded into cheering. Naruto stared numbly at them, and saw Tsunade. He frowned and began to march towards her, then he froze…_Hinata-chan_.

Naruto decided he would handle Obaa-chan later, he had to see Hinata-chan, now!

He ran off the stadium field and out of the stadium.

* * *

He ran all the way to the Hospital, nearly two miles away. He had used up a lot of chakra and stamina, and so he was winded when he entered the hospital. Naruto went up to the front desk, "Where is Hyuuga Hinata's room please?" The doctor behind the desk shifted through some papers, "You're going to have to wait in line like everyone else." He looked up from his papers and his eyes widened in fear, he was the medic from the field that Naruto had threatened.

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously "You want to rephrase that?" the doctor gulped, and pointed down the hall, your second right, 34B." he said shakily. Naruto turned and ran sown the hall at full speed almost running into several doctors.

He stopped at 34B where there was a female doctor checking off a notebook, "How is she?" The doctor looked up, it was Sakura. "Sakura-chan! H-how is Hinata-chan!" Sakura looked down both hallways before answering, "She almost died Naruto, if she had gotten here a few second later she would've died, and I do mean only a few seconds. When I attempted to heal her, I didn't think it would do any good, she had lost too much blood and her heart was torn down the middle." Naruto grimaced closing his eyes tight "Y-you said almost died, right?" Sakura nodded, smiling, it was like my chakra activated something, her armbands, the ones you gave her started to glow red, and right before my eyes she healed within minutes. I can't explain it, it's a miracle. She's sleeping right now, I'll let you in, even though I'm not supposed to."

Naruto lunged forward and hugged Sakura burying his face into her shoulder, "Thank you Sakura-chan… thank you so much…" Sakura hugged him back, "Get in there you big goof before someone sees you." Naruto pulled away, tears streaming down his face as he entered the room.

* * *

There lay Hinata, with and I.V. in one arm and a monitor showing her regular heart beat, her eyes closed, breathing regularly . Naruto walked slowly towards the edge of the bed and collapsed to his knees when he got there. Grabbing her hand gently, he began to cry. She was alright, thank god she was going to be okay.

He looked up into her face, and realized how beautiful it was. Something inside of him slid into place, like the last piece of a puzzle that he had been looking for.

He loved her, he loves her with all his heart, and her would stay by her side forever. Not because he promised it, or even because she wanted him to, but because…

…He loved her.

Naruto slowly, ever so slowly rose up and kissed her, letting his heart be known.

* * *

Yes OKAY! I admit it, I cried while typing some of the end parts, I was listening to a love song at the time and I got teary eyed, what can I say, I get emotional over things like that.

I also figured that if I didn't let you guys know what happened to Hinata right away, you'd track me down and murder me... I don't know, I just got the feeling.

AND. Pleas Review! I really, Really, REALLY want to know what you think of this chapter, did you love it? hate it? or somewhere in between? I hope you love'd it, but I'm just hoping.

Next chapter: Fight between Tsunade and Naruto, Hinata presents herslef to her father, and on to the Treehouse we heard about in Chapter 1!


	7. A Day Worth Dieing For

Thank you again for all your reviews, I loved them! Even the slightly negative ones, but thats to be expected.

There was one review, left by an anonymous reviewer who called him/herself 'Woohaha' that concerned me and I would like to clear it up, he/she said: _I dont like how you have naruto puss out when he killed 2 guys a lot of authors do that ..why cant you have narutos determination kick in here? i guess its for character growth but it seems strange theyre ninjas after all i hope naruto never becomes hokage._

My answer to this is simple, Naruto is a kid, he's only sixteen years old, and the only way I'd expect someone not to freak out from killing someone for the first time is either they are too young to understand or they are cold-blooded, like my OC characters, the sound nins and that Hidden Mist nin that Hinata fought. And I don't think anyone sees Naruto that way, besides he handled pretty well I think, he was back to his normal self overnight. And who would want a Hokage who is cold blooded? And sorry 'Woohaha', but I want Naruto to Hokage.

So if anyone else was wondering the same thing, there you go thats my answer.

Anyway, this chapter has less action and alot more fluff, plus there is alot of information here which I needed to put in so that I can jumpstart the next part of the story.

Also, on the bottom of my profile page I now am posting a "Daily Newsletter" Which I will attempt to update everyday, and it will give progress on my current chapter and give a _very_ basic summary of the chapter as well.

Oh and one more thing, ENJOY!

**

* * *

Chapter 7: A Day Worth Dieing For.**

Hinata opened her eyes, she was in heaven. She had to be, because she didn't feel any pain, matter of fact she felt great, she felt physically better than she had, well, ever. Plus there was a soft light that illuminated everything, and she seemed to be laying on something very soft, Hinata could only think that it was a cloud.

And oh yes, one more thing, Naruto-kun was kissing her. That proved that she had to be in heaven now, no way would such an impossibility happen in real life, and it definitely wasn't a dream, because everything felt so _real._ So she had definitely died and gone to heaven, it was nice, but it wasn't real. She suddenly felt a great sadness, she had died and left Naruto-kun, and now heaven was trying to make her feel better by having what looked like Naruto-kun kiss her as if he really did love her. Tears began to stream down her face as she wished she had told him sooner that she loved him.

Naruto saw Hinata-chan's eyes open and as tears began to stream down her face he jerked back, thinking he had done something terribly wrong. "Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

Hinata raised her hand in a shooing motion, "Go away, you're not real, I just want to be alone right now, thank you for trying to cheer me up though."

Naruto frowned, "What the hell do you not mean I'm real! I just ran from the stadium all the way to this hospital which some idiot decided to build two miles away from a place where people got seriously hurt, and I threaten a doctor to get to your room, and have Sakura-chan let me sneak in, even though she could get in big trouble, and…and I kiss you, because I'm worried sick and happy that your alive, _and_… and because I think I'm in love with you. And you tell me I'm not real?" Naruto took Hinata's hand in his own, and sat on the bad next to her, "I definitely feel real to me Hinata-chan, and that kiss you gave me when you said you loved me, that definitely felt real to."

_Oh god._ It wasn't heaven or even her best dream ever, because she realized all of a sudden that the light was thenoonday sun coming through the window next to her bed, and the soft thing she was on that she thought was a cloud was actually a very soft hospital bed. She was in a hospital room, and she was very awake and very much alive.

Hinata shrieked and grabbed her covers and dove under them curling in the fetal position trying to get away as fast as she could. She definitely wasn't going to fall for something that would never happen and then find out that it was all a lie. She was going to go to sleep and when she wok up, she would either be in heaven or somehow alive in a world where everything was _normal._ Naruto-kun did not love her, she knew that he never would, even though she dreamed about it. She wasn't about to be disappointed when she found out that this wasn't real.

Naruto jumped when Hinata-chan shrieked, and smiled slowly. This was probably a shock for her, she probably wasn't expecting to still be alive. Naruto now understood why Hinata-chan had told him that he wasn't real. He was going to have to deal with this with some finesse. Well he was in love with her, and she had told him she was in love with him, right? Oh well, might as well.

Naruto got under the covers with her so that their faces were only a couple inches away from each other. He couldn't help but smile broadly at Hinata's shocked face. _Jeez, Jaraiya has really started to rub off on me._

Hinata froze. He had just gotten underneath the covers with her, she finally came to this conclusion after about a minute of staring into those sky blue eyes. She still wasn't ready to admit this was real though, it was still too surreal.

Naruto saw the doubt in her eyes still there. _Looks like this is calling for drastic measures._ Naruto reached out and placed his hand on her cheek, cradling it gently, "Are you still positive that I'm not real?" Hinata nodded, not taking her wide eyes from his face. Naruto smiled nervously and lowly moved forward the last few inches, he paused for a moment but Hinata didn't move away, and so he kissed her, just pressing his lips softly against her trembling ones.

Hinata was definitely more awake now than she was before, she slowly closed her eyes and allowed herself to be kissed, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this was real. Naruto pulled back and she opened her eyes to meet his, his cheeks were pink and he was smiling a little nervously. She suddenly felt the heat rise in her chest and abdomen and spread through her limbs, making her feel like she was blushing all over, she probably was.

Naruto tried his best to smile reassuringly, he didn't think it was working out though. "Do…do you still think I'm not real now?" Hinata nodded her head again, but this time very slowly. Naruto moved forward again, and this time was met halfway, making his eyes go wide with surprise for a moment. But then he smiled, and closed his eyes again, feeling Hinata-chan's lips against his.

What the hell was she doing! Of course she knew he was real after he pulled away from the first kiss. But she was tired, and somehow that heat in her body had taken over, maybe she had let it. And so she had pretty much asked him for another kiss. This time though she felt herself move forward and meet him halfway kissing him back. And time just ceased to exist for her.

It was several moments before they retreated from each other, just a little breathless.

Hinata looked into those beautiful eyes, thinking that they were as vast as the sky and could swallow her in an instant if she allowed herself to fall in, she realized she was about to before she stopped herself. "Th-this is real isn't it? I-I am alive, and…I'm not dreaming?"

Naruto grinned, "This is definitely not a dream and definitely real, and thank god that, yes, you are alive." Hinata hesitated for a moment "… And what I said to you when I was hurt, I-I meant it." Naruto smiled fully, "Good, because… I meant it to when I said that I think I'm in love with you."

Hinata could feel the tears coming up, but she didn't stop them, this wasn't heaven, this was heaven on earth!

Naruto began to panic, "Hinata-chan! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you…?" Hinata had begun to giggle, "I thought it was okay Naruto-kun, to cry when you were really happy." Naruto couldn't help but let his own tears well up as Hinata climbed into his arms and hugged him, rubbing her cheek against his and sighing, "I love you Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto hugged her back, letting his relief overflow through him, "…and I love you Hyuuga Hinata."

It was several minutes later before Hinata spoke up again, "Um, Naruto-kun?…" Naruto grunted, "Hmhm?" Hinata hesitated, going pink at the thoughts going through her head, "Uh, your under the covers with me Naruto-kun, what if someone came in?"

Naruto turned beet red seconds before sitting up and throwing the covers off of them, That's when he realized Hinata-chan was wearing one of those patient slip-ons, the ones that you didn't wear any under-wear underneath. Naruto stood up blushing uncontrollably and stammering an apology.

Hinata was confused for a moment until she saw herself uncovered. She squeaked and quickly pulled the blankets up to her chest. "I-its okay Naruto-kun, you can turn around now."

Naruto peeked over his shoulder before turning all the way around and breathing deeply, he thought he was in for a serious beating, the kind that Ero-sennin usually received. Naruto looked around for a chair, but Hinata hesitantly patted the mattress where he had been sitting before he dived under the covers with her, indicating he could sit there.

Naruto sat down, smiling and scratching the back of his head, "Um, sorry Hinata-chan, I didn't really think before I did that, I shouldn't of, you probably think I'm like Ero-sennin now." Hinata-chan however, simply reached out, cupped his face and pulled him to her, lips meeting. She pulled away and smiled at him.

Naruto closed his eyes and breathed deeply, he could definitely, _definitely_, get used to this sort of thing. "I…guess I'll take that as you're not angry at me." He said rather dreamily, all this still seemed slightly surreal him to. He wouldn't want it any other way.

Naruto opened his eyes and smiled, feeling the warmth spread through him as he watched Hinata-chan smile and blush a little. He hugged her, and they held each other there for a moment before he pulled away, he still kept his hands around hers though. "I've got tons to tell you after you decided to take your nap."

Hinata smiled and rolled her eyes at that. "I'm assuming you won?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically, and proceeded to tell her everything about his match with Pulse.

* * *

Kakashi stood on the roof of the hospital. 

Good thing he had decided to follow Naruto when he decided to run off, for across from him was Duseto. Kakashi didn't think it was a coincidence.

He was tall, as tall as him, he wore the gray robed and purple belt common among all sound nins, and he wore a face mask that resembled a skull with sharp teeth and purple markings. "You can't have him Duseto, If you want him, you have to get through me first. And just to let it you know, it will over my dead and cold body."

Duseto smirked, "Very well, as you wish Copy Ninja." And with that he charged at Kakashi.

Kakashi met him halfway. They began to circle each other, giving and blocking blows so fast it would have seemed a blur to the normal onlooker. It was almost like a dance, a very deadly dance, where one misstep could spell defeat. Twisting and turning, dodging and blocking, using any convenient surface of the body in order to land a blow. Kakashi hadn't fought like this in a long time, it was exhilarating.

After several minutes though, Duseto apparently decided that it was time to get serious, he jumped back from one of Kakashi's kicks and landed about twenty feet away. Kakashi reached up and pulled up his forehead protector, exposing his sharingan. Duseto smirked again, "I already know the secret of the sharingan Kakashi, in order to avoid its power all I have to do is not look you in the eye. Simple enough for me since most jutsus don't require eye contact!"

Duseto performed hand seals and screamed "**Tornado Beast of Thunder Jutsu!**" Kakashi's eyes widened at the number of hand seals Duseto used and how fast he did them, his sharingan was just able to keep up, at least he knew how to do it now. What looked like a small tornado ripped up from the roof they were standing on right in front of Duseto, it then proceeded to wrap itself around him and began to crackle with electricity, creating a swirling vortex of wind and lightning around its creator. The 'head' of the tornado thing rested on Duseto's shoulder so that the opening in the top faced Kakashi, almost like he was about to play a tuba or sousaphone.

Kakashi's eyes widened, _Shit_, he knew what was going to happen as a ball of electrical energy began to form in the 'mouth' of the tornado. Kakashi grabbed his wrist and quickly began to pump chakra into his hand, until it to began to crackle with energy, except this lightning was blue, and composed entirely of chakra, a whole lot of chakra. He hadn't done this but once, but circumstances seemed to call for it.

The ball of lightning suddenly fired at Kakashi. He was ready though "**Raikiri!**" Kakashi swung his chakra infused hand, colliding with that of the ball of lightning. He seemed to struggle for a moment against the impact of the thunder missile, but then completed his swing, splitting the ball of electricity in two and sending both pieces hurtling into the air, where the safely winked out of existence.

Duseto's eyes widened, "What the hell was that!" Kakashi glared at Naruto's potential killer, "That was the lightning edge, the Raikiri, also called the Chidori." Kakashi sighed, "I guess I should stop fooling around to." With that Kakashi closed his right eye so he was glaring at Duseto with just the sharingan.

Duseto laughed, "Ha! I already told you fool! I know how the sharingan works! You can't defeat me by using it!"

Kakashi smiled slowly, causing Duseto to falter in his laughter, "I've been training my sharingan for three years, ever since I fought Uchiha Itachi. What makes you think this is the same sharingan you've heard about?"

Duseto stopped laughing, "What the hell are you talking about Copy Ninja!" Kakashi just kept his sharingan focused on Duseto, "It means, you nimrod, that I don't need to copy you in order to defeat you, after I get rid of your jutsu, I'm going to force you to tell me where Sasuke is, and what Orochimaru has done with him."

Duseto started laughing again, "You can't hurt me Kakashi! As long as this vortex surrounds me you'll have to pierce it with your chidori! And I'll just keep you dancing with more thunder missiles! Ha!" Duseto suddenly stopped laughing as his jutsu faded around him. "Wha… What the fuck!"

Kakashi smiled dangerously, "I just stopped your chakra flow using my sharingan, or should I say my '_Mengekyou_ Sharingan'?" Duseto looked up to see Kakashi's sharingan had changed, it wasn't like the one that Uchiha brat had. Duseto just made a big mistake.

Duseto collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach and breathing hard, Kakashi had just forced him to feel his innards torn out for seventy-two hours straight, even though in the real world no time had really passed at all. Kakashi was breathing a little heavily though,

he had used the mengekyou twice in one day, not a good idea, he mustn't show it though.

"Tell me all you know about Sasuke or else I'll do it again and again and again, until you tell me what I want to hear." Kakashi hoped he didn't hear the bluff, he really wasn't sure if he could do it again without causing himself to pass out.

Duseto however, curled in on himself and began to tell Kakashi everything he knew, form the fact that he wore women's underwear once, to all he knew about Sasuke and Orochimaru.

* * *

Naruto had just finished telling Hinata about the fight with Pulse. He left out the parts about him accessing the kyuubi chakra though. 

"So I pretty much kicked his ass after everything that happened." Hinata smiled, that was like him to brag about a fight, the only ones he never did brag about were his ones with Gaara and Sasuke, he told her all about those when they were training. He was still holding her hands, and she was so happy, it would mean so much more now when they hugged and held hands.

Naruto's good humor faded though, "If it wasn't for the fact that you were hurt so bad… and that you told me that you loved me, I don't think I would've been able to beat him." It was true, he had to use a level five Rasengan while in the weakest stage of his kyuubi form. If it wasn't for the emotion he was feeling then, he wouldn't have been able to defeat Pulse.

Hinata smiled and blushed at his words, he was saying that it was because of her love that he won. She squeezed his hand to let him know she understood. He hugged her again, even now, knowing he loved her, she didn't think she would ever get used to him hugging her and holding her hand, it sent her heartbeat skipping along. And that wasn't even mentioning kissing, she was afraid she might lose control of her body if the kissing became anymore than just their lips touching.

Hinata sighed in his embrace, then remembered something, "Naruto-kun? Shouldn't you go talk to the Hokage? You should find out why no one's looking for Sasuke anymore."

Naruto pulled away, his head hanging, "I know why they aren't searching for him anymore Hinata-chan, he's probably already the snake-bastard's vassal. But that doesn't mean they should of given up though." Naruto sighed, "I do want to talk to her Hinata-chan, but I don't want to leave your side yet…" Naruto found himself embraced by Hinata-chan, "That's probably the sweetest thing you said to me today, except that you love me of course, but I'll be okay, I promise, I'll wait for you to come back."

Naruto hesitated for a moment until Hinata pushed him playfully "Go! You big blonde goof!" Hinata giggled at her own words and turned a little pink. Naruto couldn't help himself, he leaned over and kissed her, then ran out the door yelling over his shoulder that he'd be back soon. Hinata had stopped laughing, and instead lied down sighing and hoping this dream never ended.

* * *

Kakashi's eyes went wide at what Duseto had told him. "If what you say is true, I can't let you go and tell Orochimaru that we know now." 

Duseto had other plans though, He made sure he didn't look into Kakashi's eye, "I don't think so." Duseto slammed his hand into the ground, summoning forth that vortex of wind and thunder that surrounded him.

Kakashi held up his arms to block the spray of sand and dirt that had gathered on the roof, through slit eyes Kakashi could see Duseto create a hole in the ceiling and watched as a limp and unconscious figure rose through the hole into Duseto's arms. Kakashi recognized the face mask and the gauntlets, it was Zeek, the genin sound nin that Hinata had defeated.

Using the vortex as some sort of springboard, Duseto launched himself into the air, shooting a thunder missile over his shoulder at Kakashi, forcing him to use the Raikiri again. After the dust settled and the vortex disappeared, Duseto and Zeek were nowhere to be found. _Shit!_ He had to tell the Hokage right away about this, she would decide whether to tell Naruto. Kakashi jumped off the roof of the hospital and made his way to Tsunade-sama's office as fast as he could.

* * *

Naruto barged into the office to find Kakashi-sensei and Obaa-chan conversing with intense whispers. They both stopped and looked at him as he entered. Naruto didn't bother announcing himself, he just walked past Tsunade and Kakashi and sat in the one of the chairs facing her desk, "You have some explaining to do." 

Tsunade sighed, she didn't have to ask, she already knew what Naruto wanted to talk about, she had heard what Pulse had said to him about Sasuke. She turned to Kakashi, "Thank You Kakashi, you're dismissed." Kakashi bowed quickly and left the office just as quickly, not wanting to get caught in the oncoming storm.

Tsunade walked slowly around Naruto and sat in her chair. "I know what you want to talk to me about Naruto, and I know that every reason I give you is not going to be enough to tell how sorry I am that I wasn't able to save him, I know that to you, none my reasons are good enough, and I know that in your opinion we should still be searching for Sasuke, even if he was Orochimaru's vassal." Tsunade braced herself, "You can yell at me now if you wish."

Naruto breathed in deeply and Tsunade squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the screaming to begin. "You're right." Tsunade's eyes popped open so fast they hurt, "Come again?" Naruto sighed, "I think I can already figure out most of your reasons why you aren't looking for Sasuke, especially since he probably already is Orochimaru's vassal, and it's pointless to waste needed ninja effort in a futile search. I can also guess why you didn't tell me right away, because of the chuunin exam, I would've been angry and distracted. You were also right in assuming that I think you should be looking for him still, even if he is no longer the Sasuke I know."

Tsunade couldn't believe it, Naruto had just said all of that in a calm and measured voice as if he had been thinking about it for ages. "You've been talking to Hinata, haven't you?" Naruto shrugged, yeah, while I was visiting her in the hospital I ranted and raved about how angry I was, when I calmed down, she was able to get me to think about it at a different angle." Naruto turned pink for some reason and was staring off into space with a small smile on is lips. Tsunade smiled to herself, that girl really was something, she was probably the only one that could get Naruto to see things with a little more reason than normal. She was confused by Naruto's lack of focus for a moment until she realized what it was. "She told you didn't she?"

Naruto looked up surprised by Tsunade's intuition, but nodded slowly anyway. "Yeah, she told me she loved me when Zeek had hurt her pretty bad, she told me because she was about to die and because dieing was scarier than talking to me, she was able to finally get enough courage to tell me. After she did, it was like… I don't know, everything was foggy and mixed up when I thought about her and my feelings for her, and now everything is clear and makes a whole lot more sense."

Tsunade nodded, then sighed dramatically, "Ahhh, young love, how I envy thee." Naruto frowned, "You know, your lucky I'm not _that_ mad at you, yet. So don't push it." Tsunade couldn't help smiling though, "I wish the both of you the best of luck." _You're going to need it._

Naruto nodded then and stood up to go, "I just wanted to let you know how I felt about it and all, and that, I understand and I forgive you, it wasn't your fault that he's gone." He turned and headed towards the door.

Tsunade couldn't help it, "Naruto, get back here and sit down. I have something to tell you." Naruto slowly went back to his seat, frowning and wondering what was going on.

Tsunade sighed, _he deserves to know_, "Sasuke isn't Orochimaru's vassal yet, we still have three years."

Naruto gaped, "What! Then why the hell aren't you looking for him!" Tsunade stood up and started yelling back "Because I just heard about it you little brat! Kakashi just got the information out of the sound nin jounin! Now sit the hell down before I make you!"

Naruto sat down as if a lead weight were in his butt. "W-why isn't Sasuke Orochimaru's vassal yet?"

Tsunade sat down, "Apparently the sound nin was very forthcoming, Orochimaru was out on a diplomatic mission, probably to gain the alliance of another country when he was attacked by Itachi and his Akutsuki partner. Orochimaru either doesn't know why, or just isn't saying anything to his minions, but he barely made it back alive, it was only a week before he would've made the body transfer into Sasuke. But Sasuke was nowhere to be found, apparently my old teammate is having a hard time controlling your old teammate. Anyway, Orochimaru had to transfer into a different body, which means…"

Naruto jumped up with a big smile on his face "Three more years to find Sasuke and that snake-bastard so I can kick his ass!" Naruto started jumping up and down whooping at the top of his lungs.

Tsunade sighed though, "You're not going after him though, Naruto." Naruto stopped jumping, "What?" Tsunade rubbed her temples, this was going to be bad. "I said your not going after him, and before you start screaming at me I'm going to tell you why. First, Itachi and the rest of the Akutsuki are after you we don't know why, second, we now know that Orochimaru is after you as well, which we do know why. You can not go running off on missions that will bring you into enemy territory and risk you ending up like Sasuke, or worse, dead. You need to be protected at all costs, so that you can survive long enough to find Sasuke, and how did you put it? Kick that snake-bastards ass, right?"

Naruto reluctantly swallowed what he was about to say, or yell actually. Obaa-chan had a point, a very good point. Damnit! He loved Hinata-chan, he knew that now, but did she have to put the idea of looking at things from different angles into his head? Naruto sighed and sat back down in his chair, slumping a little and hanging his head, he was beat he knew it, there were other ninja who were better at searching, and if they needed him when they found out where Sasuke is, they could always send for him and Sakura-chan.

Tsunade raised her eyebrows, shocked at Naruto's silence and surrender, what the hell had Hinata done to him to calm him down so much? Tsunade reached across the desk and grabbed his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and letting him know that she understood. "I know you want to go after him, but before finding Sasuke, your first priority should be making sure your still around to help find him, so I'm sending you away for awhile Naruto."

Naruto looked up, "Away? How far? And how long is a little while?" He may not be able to look for Sasuke, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Tsunade leaned back, "I'm sending you to a place that only Jaraiya and I know about. We call it the 'tree house' kind of as a code name for it. It's a place of refuge for me and Jaraiya while we were traveling all over the place, either together or on our own. He's going to bring you there, and I'm going to be sending a retinue of guards in order to help protect you. Just because Jaraiya and I are the only ones who know about it doesn't mean no one will find you, and with the people looking for you Naruto, you need the added protection, I don't care how much stronger you've gotten. And how long? As long as it takes to handle this Akutsuki situation. Once that's resolved you can help with finding that snake-bastard." Tsunade waited patiently, allowing that to sink in.

Naruto thought about it for several minutes before looking up, "Who are my bodyguards?" Tsunade sat back up and pulled a file from under her desk, everyone here is someone you already know. Naruto raised his eyebrows in interest. "Tsunade started to list them off, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee and Tenten, they're all jounin now, and Neji is one of the best Byakugan masters we have, Lee is second in Taijutsu only to Gai and Tenten has become quite the weapons master. There is also Sakura as well, she's almost as good at healing and fighting as I am, after all I taught her, it would be good to have some extra muscle and a medic on hand. Those are your guards, not too many but not too little, we want you to be protected well, but we don't want to attract any attention. They've all been notified and are ready to leave within the week, Jaraiya will be there for the trip to the tree-house and act as your guide, he'll also be my messenger, dropping in every once in awhile to check on things."

Naruto nodded, but looked up "I agree with the choices, plus they're all my friends, but I want Hinata-chan on that list too." Tsunade gave a mild surprised look, "Why, may I ask?" Naruto spoke with absolute certainty and determination, "Because she can use the Byakugan too, plus I taught her the jyuuken arrow, and if I'm in a fight I wouldn't want anyone else by my side more than I'd want her to be, and I promised her that I would never leave her side and she promised me the same, and we intend to keep our promises no matter what, _and_… and I love her." Naruto was standing now and bracing himself for an argument.

Tsunade nodded, "Alright, she can go." Naruto gaped, mouth hanging wide open. "But on one condition Naruto, you have to ask her first and bring her here so she can tell me that she agreed, just to be safe."

Naruto smiled, "Okay. I know she'll agree." Naruto paused though, "But her father, I know he won't agree, you've got to talk to him, he won't listen to me, he hates me, I don't know what I've done to him, but I know part of its because of the kyuubi sealed inside of me, and if he finds out how I feel about Hinata-chan he'll never let her go."

Tsunade sighed, and struggled with herself for a bit. He was sixteen, he should know. "Naruto, sit down again please." Naruto sat down automatically, probably because Tsunade had just said _please_ nicely. Tsunade breathed in deeply, prepping herself for what might come, "Ever since you left three years ago, I've spent a lot of my time in the basement of this building, looking through all the archives and files. I was looking for some information on something that I thought would be important to you, sadly everything I found, though informative, only fills one folder." Tsunade pulled out a folder from a locked drawer in her desk and handed it to Naruto, there was a large red spiral on the front of the manila folder.

Naruto looked up "What is this?" Tsunade looked seriously into his eyes for a moment before giving her answer, "You're sixteen now Naruto, I've decided that you're old enough to know about your clan and family."

Naruto froze, staring wide eyed at Tsunade. "I thought I didn't have a family." Tsunade nodded, "You don't have a family, they're all dead." Naruto hung his head, "Then why should I want to know about them?"

Tsunade got up, walked around her desk and sat in the chair next to Naruto. She opened the folder onto his lap, on the front page was a picture of someone Naruto had seen before, "That's… the fourth Hokage!" Tsunade nodded slowly "That's your older brother Naruto."

Naruto whipped his face towards Tsunade, obvious confusion and even a little bit of fear at what he was about to learn showing on his face. Tsunade smiled reassuringly and began to tell Naruto about his family.

"You are the last of the Uzumaki clan Naruto, just as Sasuke is the last Uchiha. The Uzumakis were one of the three most powerful clans in Konoha, next in power to the Hyuugas and the Uchihas. You're living in the old clan house that belonged to your family. And as you can see your family crest was the red spiral. Your brother was a prodigy, and came up with the body flicker technique, which is said only an Uzumaki could perform, its why he was known as the Yellow Flash, blonde hair and able to appear anywhere, anytime. I never knew your brother's name, and I didn't find any files on it, when I met him he was already Hokage and everyone called him Yondaime. Anyway, the day the Kyuubi attacked, it was literally unstoppable. Your brother came up with the plan to stop it though, he would make a sacrifice in order to seal the beast inside a child who, as he grew older would eventually merge with the kyuubi chakra. There were only two problems, he needed a child, and the kyuubi was so powerful that the required sacrifice had to be huge in proportion."

Tsunade paused for a moment to allow that to sink in before continuing. "Your entire clan Naruto was in a state of decline at the time, there were no Uzumaki children for some reason, your brother was the youngest Uzumaki. Until you were born of course, apparently they thought you were a miracle and a chance at bringing back the clan to its original prosperity. It was only a day later that the kyuubi attacked, and your entire clan, Naruto, it says here, all one hundred and twenty three of them, including your brother sacrificed themselves in order to created the seal on your stomach and bind the kyuubi into it. They believed that because you were young, you were the only chance for the Uzumaki clan to survive, and because of the sacrifice, you would be looked upon as a hero. It didn't turn out that way, most of the adults grew to hate the Uzumaki name, they believed such a sacrifice should have destroyed the kyuubi, not seal it so it might escape in one way or another. And so they hated you, believing you would allow the kyuubi to escape, or when you fully merged with its chakra you would become the kyuubi itself. Because of the decree the third Hokage set down, none of the children knew about you, or even heard of the Uzumaki clan, the Sandaime had a feeling that this was how the populace would react. I know its not rational how they acted Naruto, but that's the way people are, your brother was known as a hero among the children, but the adults secretly loathed him, because they believed he had cursed them, not helped them."

It took many long minutes for Naruto to absorb that, "I guess that's why Hiashi hates me so much, not only am I the vassal for the kyuubi, but because I'm an Uzumaki and the fourth's younger brother." He said the part of being the younger brother of the fourth with a bit of wonder in his voice, almost like what he was saying wasn't real.

Tsunade grinned a little, "Actually Naruto." Naruto looked up with a questioning look, "Hiashi hates the Uzumakis for an entirely different reason, or at least before the kyuubi incident, remember when I told you your clan was one of the three most powerful?" Naruto nodded, "Well, duh, Hyuugas and the Uchihas didn't get along very well because they were competing for power, what makes you think the Hyuugas and Uzumakis got along while the clan existed?"

Naruto nodded his head in agreement, that would make sense, but then he frowned "But the Uchihas and the Hyuugas were rivals because of their blood limits, why would my clan be considered a threat…?"

Naruto noticed the smile and glint in Obaa-chan's eye, "WHOA! Hold on just one second! You are _NOT_ saying that I…"

Tsunade nodded her head enthusiastically, "Ooooh yes I am, you Naruto have an advanced bloodline limit. And a very powerful one at that, because the records mention that even though all three clans were competing against each other, the Uzumakis seemed to be on top more often then not."

Naruto just sat there, stunned and numb, he couldn't believe it, not only did he have a clan and family, but his brother was the fourth Hokage and he had a blood limit.

Naruto suddenly became very dizzy and fell out of his chair. Tsunade got down and put a steadying hand on him, she waited a minute before asking, "You okay?" Naruto nodded, "Just thought I was going to throw up for a moment, I'm better now though, thanks."

Tsunade stood up and sat back down at her desk, and waited for Naruto to stand back up and sit down, "The Hyuugas are born with the ability to use the Byakugan, and the Uchihas were usually able to use the Sharingan when they hit puberty. Your clan however had to wait until they were adults, the youngest on record to get full use of your blood limit was your brother at age sixteen."

Naruto's head was reeling from all the information he just received, he struggled to clear his mind "Wh-what is my blood limit?" Tsunade shrugged, "Doesn't say, other than it's a doujutsu, an eye blood limit like the Sharingan and Byakugan. Apparently doujutsus are extremely rare and powerful. And Konoha is unique due to the fact that we used to have three clans that had advanced bloodlines that involved their eyes. It does say that your bloodline limit was called the Zenseigan, and apparently your brother said you had to have use of the Zenseigan in order to use the body flicker jutsu, there were some other jutsus unique to your blood limit, just like all advanced bloodlines have, but it didn't say." Tsunade, pulled out a three-prongedkunai with a strange seal carved into the handle and handed it to Naruto. "Here, this is what your brother used to perform the body flicker jutsu, maybe someday you can figure out how he did it."

Tsunade then helped Naruto up and shooed him out of the room, "There, you have your folder and the only remaining shuriken that your brother used. I hope your happy, remember to bring Hinata here, and don't worry I'll talk to Hiashi, he'll have to do as I say, I am the Hokage after all. Now go, I think someone is waiting for you in the hospital."

Naruto turned around and hugged Obaa-chan, sniffing back his tears, "Thank you, thank you so much… I don't know how to thank you for all of this…" Tsunade held him so she could look into his eyes, "Forgiving me about Sasuke and about not telling you all of this sooner should be enough I think." Naruto smiled, tears leaving trails down his cheeks and hugged Tsunade, "Forgiven." And then he turned around and ran, Hinata was waiting for him after all, and he had so much to tell her, then he stopped down one hallway. He couldn't tell her about his family sacrificing themselves, then he would have to tell her about the kyuubi inside of him, he would just tell her that they all died battling the kyuubi he could tell her that who his brother was at least. It was close enough to the truth, but it hurt lying like that, still he didn't want Hinata to hate him. He didn't think he could bear her hating him. He quickly perked up again though, _Wait until Hinata-chan finds out I have blood limit like hers! The Zenseigan ,this is so cool! I wonder what it does?

* * *

_

Hinata opened her eyes to find her father entering her room. "Father! I did it! The judges voted that Naruto and I were eligible to become chuunin! I was able to do it!"

Hiashi though merely looked at her, that's when she noticed that he was clenching his jaw so hard his entire face was turning pale. "Able to do what exactly?" he said menacingly. Hinata's eyes widened, why was father angry? Didn't she do what he always wanted of her? "F-father?"

"You have dishonored me again!" Hinata was shocked "W-what?" Hiashi continued as if he didn't hear, "You have dishonored me! How do expect me to congratulate you when you enter the exam without the family crest and become a chuunin without the family crest, and you expect me to honor _you_? What did you expect, you wanted me to restore your position as heir? You have lost all hopes of that!"

Hinata couldn't understand what was going on, tears began to crawl down her cheeks, "B-but father! Y-you said I could take part of the ch-chuunin exam!"

Hiashi glared, Hinata could literally hear him grinding his teeth "You should not have agreed, you would have gained some respect from me if you had declined and stayed home and practiced your jyuuken! You dishonored me! Not only did you not wear the family crest, you lost! Again! No self respecting Hyuuga would allow themselves to be beaten so badly! And worse, you use an unknown technique to defeat your opponent! Where did you learn how to do that! Jyuuken was not meant to be thrown around like some toy!"

Hinata was sobbing now, miserable with herself for failing… again. "N-Na-Naruto-kun t-taught me it."

Hiashi's eyes widened in outrage, and very slowly he asked "You allowed yourself to be not only partnered with that lowlife, but you let yourself be taught by a piece of trash! And worse you use that Uzumaki's trash technique! Allowing him to pervert the jyuuken! How can you call yourself a Hyuuga when you allow yourself to be surrounded by scum like that Uzumaki-Trash!"

Hinata exploded, "He-is-not-TRASH! He is the most wonderful, kind, sensitive and strongest person I know! And I _love_ him!"

Hiashi was speechless with anger, "Starting the day you get out of this hospital, you will not leave the household for any reason, you will train your jyuuken everyday, and starting today you are forbidden, FORBIDDEN to go anywhere near that Uzumaki brat! No exceptions!" With that Hyuuga Hiashi stormed out of the room and slammed the door.

Outside the room, he grabbed the nearest doctor, "Huh?"

"I am the head of the Hyuuga clan, you will guard this door from any man who happens to have blonde hair and blue eyes and calls himself Uzumaki Naruto." The doctor was panicking "B-b-b-b-but…" Hiashi tightened his grip, "You will do as I say or _else_. Understood?" The doctor numbly nodded his head. Seeing that Hiashi turned and stalked out of the hospital.

* * *

Naruto ran all the way to Hinata's room only to be stopped by a doctor, "Sorry, on Lord Hyuuga Hiashi's command, no one is allowed to enter unless they're a… doctor?" Naruto recognized the little man, it was the same medic he had threatened at the stadium and had tried to stop him at the front desk not to long ago. 

Naruto narrowed his eyes dangerously and began to methodically crack his knuckles, "You were saying…?" He growled the words only inches from the doctor's face.

The doctor was shaking and beginning to sweat, why did he have to get involved with the temperamental ninjas? "S-s-s-s-s-sure, what Hiashi-sama doesn't know w-won't hurt him, right?" Naruto smiled menacingly "Right."

The doctor scrambled as fast as he could out of the way, at least he would be able to check on his patient now, that sound shinobi, Zeek was his name.

Naruto could hear crying inside, _damn that Hiashi!_ Naruto opened the door and walked to Hinata's bed. She had her face in her hands and was shaking with her loud sobbing.

Naruto touched her hand, "Hinata-chan?" Hinata flinched at his touch, but when she heard his voice she threw herself at him without looking, crying into his shoulder. Naruto wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

It was about and hour before Hinata had calmed down enough to tell him what happened. "You're not going to listen to him are you!" Hinata hung her head and hid her face, not knowing what her answer was. Naruto frowned determinedly "Look Hinata-chan…" and he proceeded to tell Hinata everything about Sasuke and the fact that he was going away, including who his bodyguards were and that he wanted her with.

Hinata began to shake her head "B-but father, he will never…" Naruto frowned and gently cupped Hinata's face, facing her towards him so she couldn't look away. "Look, Hinata-chan, this isn't about what your father wants, or about pleasing him, from what I gather, I don't think you could please him no matter how hard you try, one failure seems to be enough for him to condemn anyone for eternity. This isn't about him, this is about you and what you want Hinata-chan, Obaa-chan already said that if you agree she'll make it an order that you go, Hiashi can't refuse that. That is… if you want to go?"

Hinata nodded vigorously, "Of course I want to go Naruto-kun! I don't want to leave your side ever! But father, he… he will never forgive me." Naruto frowned with frustration, but he didn't let it take over.

As calmly as he could he looked into those beautiful lavender eyes, willing her to understand, "Sometimes… sometimes Hinata-chan, you have to stop worrying what other people think, and think about what you want, and then do it. I made a promise to you, and I'm not breaking it… ever."

It took Hinata a moment to realize what he was saying "Naruto-kun! You can't stay! I love you, but I can't be by your side if you die!" Naruto nodded solemnly, "That's true, but I'd rather die by your side than die knowing you weren't there with me."

Hinata was speechless and so she began to cry, how did he do that, make her so happy and yet so sad at the same time? Gods she loved him so much.

Naruto could still see some doubt though, _fine, if reasoning won't work then I'll have to get drastic, I am NOT leaving her behind._ Naruto pulled Hinata-chan's face toward him and kissed her, this time though, instead of just the light brushing of lips he pushed gently so that he was kissing her bottom lip and their lips were fully pressed against each other.

Hinata could feel herself melting, she went limp in his arms so that he was the only thing holding her up. The heat was incredible, she had slid a hand behind her head, and it was taking all her control not to grab his hair and pull him into an even deeper kiss.

Naruto pulled away after a very, very long moment, leaving Hinata-chan blinking rapidly and gasping. Naruto raised an eyebrow in question, "Soooo?" Hinata nodded her head very slowly, and smiled, letting all those thoughts of her father come back to her like they did the day Naruto-kun had asked her to partake in the chuunin exam.

Hinata suddenly became dizzy and fell into Naruto-kun's arms, any more kisses like that she would have done anything he asked of her. She hugged him feeling his arms tighten around her, and sighed. She would be leaving with Naruto-kun in a week and she wouldn't have to worry about clan life or her father's anger, it would just be her, Naruto-kun, Neji-niisan and friends, and they could be gone for a year! Or even more! It was a fantasy come true!

Naruto pulled away "Hey Hinata-chan! I got loads to tell you!" and so Naruto described in detail about his brother and his clan.

Hinata listened to every word, amazed at the things he was telling her, but deep down inside part of her couldn't but muse over the fact that today… today was definitely worth almost dieing for.

* * *

Alright, I hope you enjoyed some of the things I added, and if not... Too Bad! Muwahahahaha! Cough-Cough 

Anyway, "I want one thing this Christmas Santa" Santa smiled "What is it Gadalla? What do you want?" Gadalla shouted happily "REVIEWS! REVIEWS! REVEEEIIIIIWS!" Santa fainted... and then, he died...

Uhh, Anyway! Next Chapter: We get to see the tree-house! Well first we travel there! Then! Only then do we get to see the tree-house!... and some other things...hee hee.

There I did some editing, hope it was enough.


	8. To the TreeHouse!

Allright, finally! Chapter 8 is up, this is hard, trying to edit previous chapters and typing a new one at the same time. I guess I'm not the multi-tasking type.

Anyway, time to answer some reviews, kinda.

I want to thank everyone who pointed out any spelling or typing mistakes that I made, they're helping with my editing. And I'm not sure how a beta reader works actually, if anyone would mind explaining that to me?

Oh, one more thing, those of you who were asking about Kakashi's Mengekyou Sharingan, I can already tell that you are the ones who watch the anime, or haven't at least read the latest chapters of the manga. This is a spoiler, but too bad... eh I'll be nice, if you want to know, I'll tell you about the latest chapters of the Naruto Manga at the end of this chapter.

Other than that I have nothing else to say, other than Enjoy!**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: To the Tree-House!**

It had been five days before the doctors were fully satisfied with Hinata's miraculous recovery. Naruto-kun had been by her side all day everyday; he had even slept outside her room on the waiting couch a couple of times. Thankfully her father didn't come back for another visit, even though it hurt a little bit that her own father wouldn't be overly worried about her health.

Everyone else had come though, bearing gifts. Kiba had gotten her a stuffed replica of Akamaru when he was still a puppy. While Shino had gotten her bouquet of flowers which after she took from him erupted into a cloud of the most colorful butterflies Hinata had ever seen.

Ino had gotten Hinata about ten different pairs of the shorts that she had gotten so used to wearing. Matter of fact she had to keep on rewashing her only two pairs everyday so she could wear them. She hadn't worn baggy pants ever since Naruto-kun had commented on how good she looked in short-shorts.

Shikamaru had gotten her something very special, a record of the chuunin exam, which showed that over the years there were quite a few Hyuugas who lost fights and didn't become chuunin on their first or even second tries, but still became very important people. Shikamaru had gotten a hug for that, causing Naruto to laugh outrageously at Shikamaru's blushing face.

Chouji had gotten her a mini-bakery set, which allowed her to make cupcakes and cookies in the hospital bed, which Naruto-kun had fallen in love with. Hinata couldn't help feeling pleased with herself that her new boyfriend appreciated her cooking.

And yes they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend now, since everyone who came to visit had asked Naruto why he was there so often, they would get a blatantanswer, tellingthem that he was in love with her and they were together now and he wouldn't leave her side as long as she was in the hospital. It was embarrassing every time he did that, but Hinata felt a happy warmth inside her heart every time he declared to everyone that he loved her.

Lee had come and repaired her damaged armbands for her, she had expelled so much chakra through them at once that they had burned and were nearly useless. Lee was amazed at how much chakra she had used. Commenting on her strength of youth and whatnot.

Tenten had brought Hinata a pair of gloves that were nice and velvety, but across the knuckles they had a metal plate that had metal spikes riveted into it. Tenten explained that jyuuken was all good and everything, but with these she could do some physical damage too. Hinata had smiled in thanks, wondering to herself whether she really wanted to hit someone with those spikes.

Neji-niisan didn't bring a gift, matter of fact he was informed that Hinata was coming on the mission and had personally moved Hinata's things to her 'room' in Naruto's house. He only smiled at the her and Naruto's reactions, which involved Hinata coughing on her water and Naruto slipping and falling on his head.

"You don't need to thank me, I believed it would be a good idea to get you away from Hiashi-sama, Hinata, and you enjoy being with Naruto so much I figured that his house would be a good place for you to stay when you get out of here before we leave on the mission. He hadn't waited for an answer, only nodding at Naruto, and giving Hinata a wink and then left.

Hinata was stunned, she had never seen Neji wink before.

Sakura-chan had come as well, for check-ups and during her off days to just hangout and talk. Sakura had brought Hinata a small gold heart-shaped locket that opened up and revealed a small picture of Naruto and Hinata kissing. Naruto had yelled quite a bit about Sakura spying on them while she whispered jokes in Hinata's ear giggling to herself and causing Hinata to blush. Some of the jokes apparently involved her and Naruto in Sakura's mind.

Naruto of course, seeing everyone get Hinata gifts, realized he was the only one who hadn't gotten her anything. So he had left for about two hours and returned bearing a small box. Hinata opened it to find a silver ring that had a strange symbol engraved in gold on it. Naruto had explained that the symbol was the one on his brother's kunai, the one that allowed him to use the body-flicker jutsu. "If I'm able to figure it out I might be able to use that jutsu with this ring too… that way, I guess no matter where I am… I'd be by your side."

When she inquired about how much it cost Naruto refused to tell her. She was worried it had cost quite a bit, the ring was solid sterling silver, and the engraving was definitely 24 Karat gold, and the ring was the same size and weight and as a wedding band. It made Hinata blush at the thought.

She knew this was her favorite gift, she didn't think she'd ever take it off, matter of fact she planned on never doing so.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes and rolled over. It took her only a second to realize she wasn't in the hospital anymore. She nearly panicked, covering herself with the sheets before she realized she was in Naruto's house and in 'her' room, the one she had apparently claimed for herself. She could smell ramen being made in the kitchen in Naruto's room upstairs. And there was a deep thumping noise, she realized this was what had woken her up. 

_Why am I here? Actually, how did I get here?_ Hinata got out of bed and thankfully saw that she was dressed in her clothes, short-shorts and baggy jacket. The clothes she had been wearing an hour before she planned on leaving for Naruto's house. For some reason she couldn't remember anything after she had gotten dressed at the hospital.

She slowly went to the door and went out into the hallway and to the stairs, slowly ascending them to Naruto's room. She realized the deep thumping noise got louder as she approached Naruto's door at the top of the stairs. Until finally, it was a deep throbbing sound that vibrated the door, it seemed to have a beat to it.

She knocked and called softly, "Naruto-kun?" No answer. She tried again a little louder, and then again, until she found herself pounding on the door and yelling his name as loud as she dared. Still there was no answer. Hinata slowly reached for the doorknob and finding it unlocked, slowly opened the door and poked her head in.

She was instantly blasted by heavy metal rock music that was coming from several six-foot tall speakers and a giant subwoofer that was pounding out the deep bass that woke her up in the first place. It was the strangest music she had ever heard, it was wild and alive and had a sense of ordered-chaos. She realized she wanted to jump up and down to it for some reason.

Hinata quickly covered her ears, but soon forgot about the danger to her eardrums when Naruto-kun came _dancing_ from the kitchen, across the massive room and into her sight. But it was no type of dancing she had ever seen.

He was wearing only his boxers she realized, but no matter how much she screamed at herself mentally to run, she just couldn't take her eyes away. He had an electric guitar strapped to his shoulder and two chopsticks hanging out of his mouth. It took her a moment to realize he was the one playing the rock music to the drumbeat coming from the subwoofer.

She couldn't stop staring, he was jumping and turning through the air, his eyes squeezed shut in concentration, and rocking his head so that his hair was flying everywhere without his forehead protector, his fingers were flying over the guitar so that appeared to blur as his other hand strummed the strings.

She blushed again when she remembered he was nearly nude and the fact that he was sweating from his exertion, causing his skin to reflect the morning sunlightand made his muscles look even more defined. Hinata lost track of time as she watched Naruto as he gyrated his body right in front of her, not knowing that he had an audience.

Finally the song ended, and Naruto turned around to find a very red Hinata who was nearly out of breath as him.

"WHOAH!" Naruto jumped and fell backwards, causing Hinata to shriek and slam the door. It took a minute before Naruto's heart stopped beating so fast and he could think clearly. Hinata had just seen him rocking out to his music in his boxers, and she could have been watching the entire time. Naruto turned very red at this realization and had to breath deeply to calm himself down. He got up and pulled on some pants and a T-shirt, he hadn't expected Hinata to be awake so soon. _Of course I was blasting the music pretty loudly._

He walked over to the door and knocked, "Hinata-chan? Are you still out there?" He heard a small voice reply "…yes… I'm so sorry Naruto-kun, I shouldn't have come in like that, I should of waited for you to finish and come out on your own." Naruto sighed, he hated it when she was upset, especially when it was his fault. "It's okay Hinata-chan, really, nothing happened." Though Naruto realized some part of him had wanted something to happen, Naruto stamped that thought out quickly, _I am not like Ero-sennin!_ "Alright Hinata-chan, I'm going to open the door now, I'm dressed, so don't worry."

Naruto slowly opened the door and found Hinata standing and staring at her feet. Naruto smiled and pulled her into a warm hug. "Glad you woke up finally, the doctors gave you some medicine to help you sleep before we left, and you passed out. I had to carry you out and sneak you past all the doctors before they decided you were sick again and tried to keep you there. Are you feeling okay?"

Hinata nodded and snuggled herself into Naruto's embrace, even though he was sweaty she didn't really care at that moment.

So that's why she couldn't remember anything, but why had she passed out so quickly from a couple of muscle-relaxers?

She looked up at Naruto and giggled turning bright pink in the face, "You sure were funny dancing around like that."

Naruto grinned and laughed with her, "Yeah I know, but I like the music, Jaraiya and I came across it while we were traveling in the west. I heard it at a concert, it was the craziest thing ever. They called it rock, I guess because its so hard and loud sounding. I bought a whole bunch of CDs, wanna listen to some?"

Hinata nodded, she had never heard of this type of music before, and was intrigued, the only music she had ever listened to was traditional Japanese music, played at her house by symphonies and master musicians. "Sure, can you turn it down some though? Oh, and what's for breakfast?"

Naruto pointed to his mini kitchen, "Pork ramen of course!" Hinata rolled her eyes and smiled while getting herself a bowl and some tea before sitting down with the love of her life as he showed her bands and some of their CDs and what they sounded like.

She soon came to the conclusion that she kinda liked this 'rock' music.

* * *

They were all waiting at the front gate of Konoha. Jaraiya was late. 

Hinata had stayed two days at Naruto's, which were more than enjoyable. She quickly came to love this new type of music that was simply called 'rock'. Along with her survival and ninja gear, hygiene and an extra pair of clothes, she had packed a CD player that Naruto-kun had gotten her, even though she told him he didn't have to, and had a few of her favorite CDs, which included some of the hardest rock music that Naruto had and a bunch of love songs. Naruto had been surprised at the fact that she seemed to like the really heavy rock the most, next to the love songs of course.

And due to the fact that Naruto had just found out that his house was actually his old clan's house, he and Hinata had spent most of their time those two days exploring the entire complex. If they weren't doing that they sat and watched movies together, which Naruto chose action movies, while Hinata chose chick-flicks, they both enjoyed watching the ones about true love though. Hinata had never realized how comfortable Naruto-kun's chest was, she often fell asleep while snuggled up against him on the couch watching an afternoon movie. She'd awaken to find Naruto sleeping as well, his head resting on hers. Even though she was looking forward to the missionandprotecting Naruto, she wished those days would never end.

All six of them had been waiting for over an hour now. Naruto and Lee stood talking about chuunin exam and a little about the jounin exam, while Hinata, with Sakura and Tenten sat in a circle and talked about clothes.

Naruto and Lee wondered why the circle of girls were giggling so much.

Neji stood off to the side, leaning against the gate and seemingly staring at nothing, though Naruto had a feeling that he was watching everything.

Suddenly a giant horse-sized frog landed in the middle of the group, scaring the shit out of everyone, except Neji.

Jaraiya stood up after the frog disappeared in an explosion of smoke. "Sorry everyone, I was a little uh, held up, with the Hokage, she… wanted to explain something to me."

Naruto smirked, noticing that one side of Jaraiya's face was a painful shade of red. The man just wouldn't learn.

Naruto spoke up first, "You're an hour late ya stupid pervert! Can we please get going now!" Naruto waved at the gate guards who began to open the gate for them. Jaraiya grumbled under his breath, "I am _not_ stupid…"

Naruto rolled his eyes and allowed Jaraiya to lead them out of Konoha. As they passed the gate Naruto looked over his shoulder and gazed at his home, he hadn't even been back for two months and he was already leaving again. This time he didn't know how long he would be gone, or if he would ever return. Hinata sensed his distress and reached out shyly and took his hand, causing Naruto to smile reassuringly at her and intertwine his fingers with hers. He may be leaving something behind, but he was definitely on his way towards something far more precious to him.

* * *

The first day out, they headed west, on the way Jaraiya had explained how he was having all of their personal things moved to the tree-house via summoned toads. They would reach their destination before they did. 

This prompted Sakura to ask "So why didn't we just ride your summoned frogs to the tree-house if they're so much faster than us?"

Naruto and Jaraiya had looked at each other and burst out laughing, Naruto wiped the tears from his eyes, "You've never ridden a giant frog before have you Sakura-chan?"

Sakura frowned but shook her head, she had definitely never ridden a giant toad.

Naruto then went into a vivid description on how your stomach feels every time the frog leaps into the air, causing Sakura and some of the others to get a little queasy just from the thought. "Sorry Sakura-chan, but if we did that, we'd have died before we reached the tree-house, we'd have puked up our stomachs and the rest of our organs." Naruto proceeded to laugh again, until Sakura glared at him clenching her fist. Naruto had heard how strong Sakura-chan had become and decided it was not a good idea to keep on laughing at her unless she was laughing to.

That night they camped in the wilderness, even though Jaraiya was the adult and mentioned that the guys and girls should sleep apart, no one took him seriously anymore, especially after listening to his dirty jokes and puns for an entire day. Naruto said you eventually got used to it, kind of.

So everyone ended up sleeping in a huddled mass. Hinata was unsure at first, but found that she really didn't mind sleeping in Naruto-kun's arms with everyone else present, even though Tenten and Sakura-chan wouldn't stop whispering to each other and giving her looks and grins that made her blush. Naruto was oblivious, he was soon asleep, and to escape the knowing looks that Tenten and Sakura kept giving her, she decided to follow his example and close her eyes to sleep. She kept having embarrassing dreams though of Tenten and Sakura convincing her to do things with Naruto-kun that she would never do normally, at least she _thought_ she wouldn't. She wasn't so sure now as the dream progressed.

* * *

They had been traveling for five days now, and Hinata still blushed when she thought about the dreams she had that first night sleeping with Naruto-kun, and she kept having them every night now. She found it hard to stop thinking about them when she was snuggled against Naruto-kun's chest and she realized how close his body really was to hers. 

"Hinata-chan, are you okay? You've been daydreaming a lot lately." Hinata looked up to see Naruto-kun looking down at her with an expression of concern mixed with a little bit of amusement. They were walking up a hill that broke the never ending green of the forest.

Hinata gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "I'm fine Naruto-kun, I just have a lot on my mind, ever since we left the village and all."

Naruto smiled, understanding, "Yeah me too, I'm going to miss Konoha, especially since we don't know when we'll return."

Hinata nodded and smiled, as if that was exactly what she was talking about. Hinata sighed softly to herself, _what am I going to do if I don't stop having these dreams?_ She was considering talking to Tenten and Sakura-chan about it, but the thought of telling someone about such… _graphic_ dreams made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

But to her horror, Tenten and Sakura beat her to it. The next day while she was walking with Naruto-kun (they always walked next to each other while holding hands now), Tenten came up and gently pushed Naruto to the side, "We need to talk to Hinata-chan for a bit Naruto, girl stuff you know." Naruto shrugged his shoulders and dropped back to walk with Neji and Lee.

Sakura came up on Hinata's other side and together she and Tenten hooked their arms with Hinata's, preventing her from getting away. Sakura spoke up first, talking lightly as if she was engaging Hinata in an average conversation, "You know Hinata, with you being in the hospital and everything I never got a chance to talk to you about a certain someone." Hinata gulped.

Tenten spoke up as well, "Yeah, I didn't know you two were going out until I came to visit you in the hospital, I mean I know you two were together a lot with all the training and stuff. But I never imagined! Our little Hinata has grown up so fast!" Tenten barely suppressed her giggle.

Sakura grinned that evil smile at her again, "Tenten and I have noticed that your not really focused lately, staring off into space and only really responding to Naruto. I've seen it before, you've either been thinking about breaking up with him, or you've been having dreams about him."

Hinata shook her head, "I'd never break up with Naruto-kun! I love him!" Sakura smiled as if she expected that answer all along. "Aha! So you have been having dreams about him, haven't you?"

Hinata gaped, she couldn't get out any words, she never really lied and to tell the truth, she probably couldn't if she tried. "I…I…I…" Hinata hung her head in defeat, and nodded her head.

Sakura's tone suddenly softened at seeing Hinata's expression, causing both Tenten and Hinata to stare at her, "You… can't get him out of your head can you?" Sakura was staring at the air in front of her now, "I know how you feel Hinata… I know exactly how you feel."

Tenten nodded her head as well with a remorseful look on her face, "Yeah, me too, I know what its like to dream about a guy and then have him stuck in your head all day."

The three girls walked in silence for a bit, this wasn't how Sakura and Tenten planned this. Hinata spoke up first, "Who are they?"

Sakura and Tenten both looked up, "Huh?" Hinata smiled, "Who are they? The boys you dream about? You can tell me, I won't tell."

Sakura smiled, "Well, if we tell you, you have to tell us what you dreamed about Naruto." Hinata paused for a minute before answering not sure if she wanted to reveal that much, "Only if you tell me your dreams too."

Sakura stuck out her hand and shook Hinata's, "Deal." Sakura looked up at Tenten, "Come on Ten, I've always wondered who the guy was that made you stare off into space all the time."

Tenten sighed but put her hand on top of theirs, "Fine, but if anyone finds out though, I'll kill both of you." Hinata and Sakura smiled and began to giggle.

Naruto raised an eyebrow as the three girls suddenly put their heads together and begun to whisper and giggle amongst themselves. "What do you think their talking about now Lee-san? Clothes again?"

Lee shrugged, "I have not the faintest clue comrade, I have learned thought that it is best to stay out of a woman's business until she is ready to tell you. Gai-sensei tells me it is dangerous business to pry into a woman's life uninvited."

Jaraiya was walking next to them and nodded his head solemnly, "Boy you have no idea how much truth your words hold."

Naruto gave Lee a look and both began to laugh hysterically, Neji had a small grin on his face. Jaraiya sniffed loudly and stuck his nose in the air, "Not like little brats like you would understand things like women."

Naruto couldn't help himself, "Oh! And I suppose _you_ do? Oh wise and mighty _Ero_-sennin!" Naruto and Lee buckled over with laughter, holding their stomachs. Jaraiya growled under his breath and stalked to the front of the group, stopping too long by the girls and getting yelled at by Tenten and Sakura, causing Lee and Naruto to erupt into howling laughter again. Even Neji was cracking a grin that showed some teeth, though he was shaking his head at the scene before him.

* * *

They had been trekking through pathless forest and over small hills for almost two weeks now. Hinata spent her days with Sakura and Tenten, talking amongst themselves about their secret, or not so secret love lives. Hinata still couldn't believe how much she told them at first, but as she heard some of the things they dreamed about she wasn't so embarrassed about her dreams, but more embarrassed about hearing theirs. They seemed to have a bad influence, causing her dreams to become more and more graphic, she couldn't figure out how Tenten and Sakura could function normally with such thoughts going through their heads. 

At night though, she spent her time exclusively with Naruto, she shared a sleeping bag with him now, finding it easier to snuggle up against him than trying to do so in her separate sleeping bag. They would talk about home and themselves, just like they did during their 'hang-out sessions', and they would stare at the stars and listen to the wind whistling softly through the trees. Of course being so close to Naruto-kun's body caused her to think about the dreams she had been having and released that heat throughout her body, causing her to breath heavily and making Naruto-kun ask if she was okay.

Hinata would answer that she was okay, embarrassed, but unable to stop her train of thought. She avoided kissing him at these times, afraid what would happen if she let herself lose control, except when he gave her a goodnight kiss before falling to sleep. She wasn't sure yet if she wanted _all_ her dreams to come true so soon.

Naruto on the other hand would hang-out with Lee and Neji during the day, both Naruto and Lee attempting to get Neji to laugh. They considered it a victory just to get him to crack a grin. Naruto and Lee would also convince Neji into races up hills and other physical contests, making fun of each other the entire time, even Neji couldn't help but get caught up in the playful name calling.

At night Naruto would huddle with Hinata, his arms around her while she lay her head on his chest. They would talk like they always did, learning more about each other everyday. And before Naruto went to sleep, he would give Hinata a quick goodnight kiss, which he began to realize was growing longer and longer with each passing night.

They couldn't explain it, but as they kissed, listening to each other's soft breathing and heartbeats, they began to feel even closer than they had in the village. For whether they knew it or not, they were falling deeply… ever more deeply… in love.

* * *

It had been over two weeks now, and they still hadn't left the wilds. 

Naruto was starting to get tired of sleeping on the ground, even though he really didn't notice with Hinata-chan in his arms. "Hey Ero-sennin! How much longer until we get to this tree-house thing?"

Neji looked up "Actually, that's a good question, and I have one too, I haven't asked it yet because its such a closely guarded secret, but where and more importantly _what_ is this tree-house that you and the Hokage speak of? I think that we all have a right to know."

Jaraiya looked over his shoulder at the group, the girls were looking up as well, interested in the Sannin's answer. Jaraiya sighed after a moment, "Fine. Don't tell Tsunade-chan that I told you before we reached there though okay?" Jaraiya took a moment before beginning to elaborate, "The 'tree-house' is actually not a code name like so many would think. It is actually a tree-house."

Naruto glared at Jaraiya, "You mean we're actually expected to spend, probably a year, in a tree?"

Jaraiya grinned, "Actually I expect you to live in trees, as in plural. The tree-house is a complex of interconnected tree-houses that span about a quarter mile in diameter. There are over one hundred rooms, with furnishings and everything. Its actually about the size of a large village. And its hidden about five miles from the nearest farming community, that's where you'll be getting your supplies and such, it's only a couple of hours into town, so you shouldn't have any problems."

Naruto scratched the back of his head in thought, "Okay two things. One, you and Obaa-chan made this village sized tree-house? And two, if there's civilization only five miles away how come only you and Obaa-chan know about it?" Neji and Lee nodded in agreement.

Jaraiya began to smile wide, relishing the fact that he was about to tell them a secret, "Actually, Tsunade-chan and I didn't make the tree-house, we _found_ it, it was supposed to be the beginnings of a knew hidden village of shinobi, but it was abandoned years ago, probably because they were to weak or had to few members or something like that. Anyways, Tsunade and I found it and renovated it, we began to use it as one of our rest stops on our travels, so I'll be stopping in every couple of months or so, to check up on things. Now that also goes into explaining how the farmers don't know about it either, it was meant to be a _hidden_ village and so it is done so." Jaraiya swung his arm in a gesturing motion, "Notice the trees kids, they're redwoods."

Naruto yawned, "Yeah and? They're red and they're big, so what?"

Jaraiya glared at Naruto "Shut up you idiot and let me explain!" Naruto yelled at him that he was the idiot and they went back and forth for a bit until Neji broke it up, "Jaraiya-sama, what were you going to say?"

Jaraiya took a moment to collect himself as Naruto crossed his arms and muttered something about 'idiots' and 'perverts'. "What I was _going_ to say, Neji, was this, redwoods are big, thank you Naruto, but they are also very, _very_ tall. The tree-house is amongst some of the largest and tallest of these trees, nearly four hundred feet in the air, and hidden in the branches and leaves."

That caused everyone to gape, Naruto was the first to recover though "Four hundred feet! We're going to be in an old tree-house four hundred feet in the air! Are you nuts!"

Jaraiya frowned, "Yes you are, and besides can't you brats climb trees with your feet at least? You'll be fine, even without all the _safety_ nets strung under the houses and all the bridges. Ha! How's that you numbskull?" This of course caused him and Naruto to erupt into another argument.

Suddenly Jaraiya whipped his head around staring into the canopy of leaves. Naruto frowned "What is it Ero-sennin?" everyone stopped.

Jaraiya spoke in a whisper, "No one look behind us, Neji if you would."

Neji nodded his head slowly and activated the Byakugan, "There's two of them, about a fifty yards behind us, they're hiding in the trees, I think I see… shit."

Tenten spoke up, "What is it Neji-kun?" Jaraiya answered for him though, "Sound nins." Everyone tensed. Lee spoke in a barely audible whisper, "What should we do?"

Jaraiya looked over his shoulder at the rest of them, carefully avoiding looking up into the leaves, "We need to catch them, Orochimaru probably sent them to follow us, sorry guys, I didn't think he would've already. We need to catch them before they get away, if they get back to Orochimaru they'll tell him everything I've told you about the tree-house." He turned to Naruto "They already know that I've sensed them, they don't know that I know exactly where they are though. Naruto, you and Lee happen to be the fastest out of all of us, Sakura you create a earthquake in their general direction and then Naruto and Lee will give chase, the rest of you will follow right behind, I'll try and cut them off, then we'll take 'em out together, got it?" His whisper was barely audible. Everyone heard though, and nodded their heads.

Jaraiya nodded "Alright on three, one…" Hinata reached out and gave Naruto's hand a squeeze, "…two…" Naruto smiled and gave her hand a squeeze as well.

"THREE!"

Sakura whipped around and slammed her fist into the ground, a giant wave of earth emanated away from her, ripping up smaller trees and tilting the larger ones, Naruto could hear two yelps of surprise among the leaves. "Lee! Lets GO!" Lee and Naruto whipped around and sprang through the air, up into the branches of the toppling trees, weaving through the shifting trees, trying to find their quarry and avoid being crushed at the same time.

Naruto spotted a flash of gray and purple in the distance, "This way!" and sped after them. Lee spotted them too, "Naruto! Watch my back!" and then he erupted in an explosion of speed. Naruto watched the blur that was Lee disappear ahead, he then felt something behind him and turned around to find a masked face right on top of him.

* * *

The trees were a blur of green and brown to Lee, he could see his target clearly and his focus did not waver from it, no matter how much the sound nin attempted to shake him. 

Lee caught up quickly, and sped by the sound nin so that he appeared in front him. The unsuspecting nin was looking over his shoulder when he ran full force into Lee's fist. The sound nin grunted as all the air from his lungs were forced out from Lee's punch. As the nin crouched to his knees holding his stomach, Lee push-kicked him in the face, like you would kicking open a door, sending him flying through a thick branch and into another tree.

The sound nin slowly stood up, he was wearing a mask that hid his entire face, it was made of gray metal with two eye slits and Orochimaru's mark painted onto the face and the sound village symbol engraved between the eyes. The nin pulled out two katanas and charged Lee.

* * *

Naruto was barely able to dodge the sound nin's blade, he wore a gray mask and wielded two katanas. He had snuck up behind the two leaf shinobi while Naruto and Lee chased his brother. 

The sound nin was trying his hardest to turn Naruto into bacon-bits, chasing him and forcing Naruto to keep moving so that the others couldn't catch up. Each time Naruto dodged one of the blades he could hear a soft humming. He couldn't figure out what it was until he was fighting the sound nin on the ground and one of the swords cut cleanly through a boulder like it was butter. _Shit! His swords are vibrating at supersonic speeds, if I get hit I'll either die or lose a body part!_

Suddenly Naruto's main priority was dodging those deadly swords.

* * *

Lee had realized the same thing, but unlike Naruto he was faring much better, he was a lot faster than his opponent, and was beginning to wear him out with quick hit and run attacks. 

Finally Lee charged and was planning on finishing it there, when the sound nin suddenly crossed his swords in front of him and a pulse of energy erupted in a sphere from his two swords vibrating against each other. Lee hit the wall of energy unable to dodge it. It sent him fly through several braches and into a tree that left a large depression in the bark where he had hit.

Lee stood up shakily, whatever that was, the blast had broken two of his ribs. He was going to have to finish this before that sound nin could do that again. Lee closed his eyes and reached inside himself, there he found an array of eight gates in his subconscious, five of them were closed, three of them were closed and had massive chains and padlocks strewn across them. It had taken a lot of meditation with Gai-sensei for him to open the first five gates. He didn't think he would need that many though.

He opened the first two gates, the Initial gate and the Heal gate.

Instantly a wave of energy and chakra washed over him, his ribs began to mend because of the heal gate and he felt no pain. Everything slowed down to him, the falling leaves seemed to freeze in the air, he loved this feeling, it was almost addictive, the feeling of invincibility, and this was only the first two gates.

He saw the sound nin up ahead charging towards him, but it looked like he was moving through molasses. Lee grinned and exploded into action.

The sound nin had no idea what hit him.

* * *

Naruto was getting tired from constantly dodging these damn swords. The sound nin was good and not giving him any openings, Naruto had to do something and fast. Where the hell was Jaraiya! 

The sound nin lunged with one of his swords and instead stabbed a rock, the blade sinking all the way through, Naruto's heart began to pound, he had an opening!

Naruto slammed his fist into the nin's side as hard as he could making the sound nin grunt. Naruto used his other hand to grab the wrist that held his free sword and kicked the sound nin's hand that held his sword in the rock breaking his wrist.

The sound nin let go of both swords and attempted to twist out of Naruto's grip, Naruto however was having none of it. He pulled on the nin's arm forcing him towards Naruto. Naruto met the nin halfway with a head butt to the forehead, leaving a dent in the nin's metal mask.

The nin staggered but quickly recovered and slipped out of Naruto's grip, performing a back-flip that allowed him to kick Naruto's face and grab one of his discarded swords off the ground at the same time. He then leaped backwards about ten feet away and crouched, preparing to charge and skewer Naruto.

Naruto saw this and acting on instinct began to swirl the chakra in his palm.

The sound nin charged, leaping high into the air and bringing his sword down on to Naruto, planning on slicing him in two. Naruto held up his arm in a futile block.

The sword stalled on Naruto's blocking arm. It was surrounded with swirling wind and chakra, causing his arm to look like it was wrapped in a mini-tornado. Naruto swung his arm forcing the nin back. He realized the swirling of the level four Rasengan neutralized the vibration from the nin's sword. His entire arm had turned into his own 'sword'.

Naruto glared at his enemy and charged, his arm held out to the side as if he was going to close-line the sound nin. The sound nin swung his sword, attempting to cut off Naruto's arm.

Both sword and Rasengan met, shockwaves began to emit as the two opposing forces battled against each other. Naruto pushed, he was standing to the sound nin's side, but he couldn't focus on anything else but maintaining the Rasengan to avoid getting his arm severed.

Many moments passed and then...the sword began to crack, the sound nin was suddenly breathing hard, and then let out a piercing scream as his sword shattered and Naruto's Rasengan slammed into his face.

There wasn't much left afterwards than a heap of twisted metal and bleeding flesh where the sound nin's head used to be.

* * *

Soon after, Lee showed up carrying the body of the sound nin he fought, which had a hole straight through the chest where the heart had been. Lee lay the body down next to his brother as the others showed. 

Hinata saw the bodies and Naruto and Lee standing over them, and instantly ran to Naruto throwing herself into his arms and squeezing him tightly, "When we couldn't find you… I was so worried." Naruto held her and carried her away from the two bodies.

Neji spoke up, "Where's Jaraiya?"

He was answered by giant frog landing in the clearing and laying another body with its tongue next to the other two. Jaraiya jumped off its back as it disappeared, "Apparently they had a friend who was acting as back-up, sorry I wasn't able to deal with him fast enough."

Naruto and Lee nodded solemnly, "Its okay, we handled them." Naruto looked at the others, everyone was really tense and little solemn at the moment with three dead bodies among them. Naruto spoke up, "C'mon, lets get out of here."

Jaraiya nodded, "You guys go back to where we were, I'll incinerate the bodies and bury the ashes." Everyone nodded, glad to get away from the reminders of their battle.

* * *

Another three days passed before they reached their destination. The first day they were all quiet and on edge after their encounter with the sound nins. But after Neji and Hinata both assured them that there were no more following them the mood began to lighten up and return back to normality. 

Hinata had held onto Naruto with a vengeance those last few nights, letting him know without speaking that she wasn't going to lose him. Naruto responded in kind, holding Hinata tightly to him so that he could feel her heartbeat thump against his chest.

The day they entered a large clearing were the branches of the overhead trees were so long they couldn't see the sky, they had gone back to their joking and rough-housing of the days before their battle.

Jaraiya stopped in the middle and pointed up with one finger, "We're here!"

* * *

Alright, maybe alittle more action then I expected. Hope you liked, and of course my favorite quote! 

"Review Please!"

**Warning! Spoiler Alert:**

In the latest chapters of the manga, Kakashi has somehow gained the use of the Mengekyou Sharingan, it hasn't explained yet how he did it, but if you read the manga, Sasuke refuses to kill Naruto at Valley's End, claiming that he will find his own way to attain the Mengekyou. I decided to incorporate this into the story and explain it when the manga does, if it ever does. Hope it didn't ruin anything for you guys who were wondering.


	9. A Home Away From Home

Alright, finally! I got the ninth chapter up, no real action here, that'll be later, this is pretty much the introduction to the tree-house. The next couple of chapters will deal with events that happen in the tree house, which includes some sparring, some more exploration, comedy and of course fluff which will also involve the others as well, can you guess the pairings? I'm not sure yet, but I may have to change the rating to "M" soon. Hee hee.

Thank you so much for the reviews, I love'em! And **Philoworm,** I absolutely love your reviews, they make me laugh, I can tell you like my Rasengan, wait until you see the other stages... Oh, and you'll have to wait on Hiashi's inevitable ass whooping, if it happens it will be a little later in the story, you'll have to wait for Naruto and the others to return to Konoha first, and that may take a bit.

Everyone else, not all of you I'm going to list, there's quite a few, I value your appreciation and even more your advice, thank you so much for supproting me so far. I hope I'm able to keep your support in the future, because I plan on this story being long and I plan on completing it.

Anyway, Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 9:A Home Away from Home **

Naruto and the others followed Jaraiya's pointing finger and looked up… way up.

The lowest branches must have been at least a hundred to a hundred-fifty feet in the air, the branches each were at least ten feet wide, and those were the thin ones. The trees themselves, the ancient redwoods, were at least fifty to sixty feet wide. Naruto had never seen trees so large, not even in the Forest of Death.

Jaraiya smiled to himself, the kids, even Neji, were staring wide-mouthed at the scene before them. "Alright guys, follow me up, I'll show you the safe route to the tree-house."

Naruto pulled his gaze away, "Safe route? Why can't we just walk up?"

Jaraiya sighed, "Sure go ahead you baka. You'll die before get more than two-hundred feet though. You'll be incinerated, electrocuted, disintegrated, or even teleported two miles above the earth about a thousand miles away and you'll plummet to your untimely death." Everyone else was looking at him now, Neji raised an eyebrow, "Seals I'm guessing?"

Jaraiya nodded, "Oh yes, thousands of them, around, below and even above the tree-house. Some of them are Hokage level. There's only one safe route up and down, you'll be lucky if you just get blasted with a fireball, I know, trust me. And better yet, they're all invisible to the naked eye _and _recharging, they recharge instantly after they are triggered, I've never seen seals like'em, to tell you the truthI'd give my right arm to know who came up with them. But luckily Tsunade-sama figured out were the safe path was... after some experimentation."

Jaraiya turned around and headed towards one of the smallest of the trees, he stopped on one side and pointed up, "This tree, on the north side, up to the first branch." Everyone gave worried glances towards Jaraiya, all thinking on some degree how well Jaraiya knew this 'safe' path.

Jaraiya beckoned to all of them and began to walk up the tree as if he was walking on level ground. Naruto shrugged, grabbed Hinata's hand and followed Jaraiya, next was Neji, then Lee, then Tenten and Sakura behind her. Everyone walked in a single file, afraid to stray from the line and setting off one of the seals. The branch they were headed to was over two-hundred feet from the ground. Jaraiya circled around the right side and began to walk on top of the branch away from the tree, everyone trailing behind him.

When Jaraiya reached halfway across the branch, he pointed to his left, "That branch over there, That's part of the center tree, try to land as close to the center as you can." Jaraiya jumped the thirty foot gap and landed on the giant branch. He turned around and waved at the others to do the same.

Naruto looked atHinata-chan at his side and gave her hand a light squeeze, Hinata looked up and nodded reassuringly. Together they leapt through the air and landed on the spot that Jaraiya had landed, everyone else followed suit. Jaraiya then walked towards the massive central tree, this tree was by far the largest, its trunk was at least eighty feet wide. Once Jaraiya reached the trunk he began to walk up again, they had to jump back to the other tree again, and then back to the central tree once more. Finally this time Jaraiya stopped at the trunk of the central tree and waited for the others. "I hope you all memorized that, it's the only way up here without triggering one of the seals, again I would know."

Naruto wondered to himself how many times Ero-sennin had been blasted by one of the seals before he came to the conclusion that this was the only right path. Naruto smiled to himself at the comic scene in his head.

Jaraiya turned towards the trunk, Naruto noticed there were three baseball-sized knots of wood arranged in a triangle, they were almost impossible to see from more than five feet away. Jaraiya pushed the bottom right one twice it sunk into the wood and came up again with each push, like a button, then the bottom left three times, then finally the top knot once. Jaraiya turned around "Did everyone get that? Or do I have to do it again?" At everyone's nod, Jaraiya pushed the palm of his left hand into the center of the triangle.

Everyone's eyes widened as the wood seemed to reach out and engulf Jaraiya's hand, Jaraiya looked over his shoulder, "Remember, the left hand, if you put your right hand in, or push the wrong combination the tree will rip off your arm." Jaraiya chuckled grimly, "Tsunade-sama had to reattach my arm a couple of times before I figured it out." He was answered by dead silence. Jaraiya nodded to himself, at least they understood the importance of this. He then thrust his arm in until it engulfed his shoulder and then twisted his arm to the right, "Remember this too, after you turn to the right you have to pump in chakra to finally open it."

They watched as the three knobs were suddenly connected by lines of glowing blue light, the lights contracted, circling inward until there was a little blue triangle of blue light circling Jaraiya's arm, then it suddenly expanded quickly, pushing the wood away from Jaraiya's arm and warping and smoothing out as it grew larger, finally stopping in the form of an arched doorway, big enough even for Naruto.

Inside there was pitch darkness, Jaraiya gestured inside, "Alright everyone inside." And stood by as they all filed past, Jaraiya then joined them in the shade of the opening, Jaraiya grinned at everyone, "To close, merely clap your hands."

Jaraiya clapped his hands once and the opening snapped shut so fast that Hinata let out a startled squeak. They were immersed in inky darkness for only a moment and suddenly fire began to trace lines upon the wooden walls, tracing out geometric designs and giving room a warm orange glow. They were in a small roomwith a low ceiling, just big enough for all of them. The walls and ceiling made up of smooth polished wood, except where the grooves that held the strange fire were situated.

Jaraiya went to the back wall and pushed with his hands, a hidden section of wall pushed inward and then slid to the side, revealing wooden steps that spiraled upwards out of sight. Jaraiya went up first "This way kiddies." Everyone was in state of awe at the complexity of just getting into the tree-house. As they ascended Jaraiya babbled about how one of the seals in the central tree was one of the Hokage level ones, and actually rendered the buildings of the entire village invisible to the eyes of anyone who hadn't entered the secret passage, and there were seals that caused people to lose their memory of why they were going this way, some even made you fall asleep and teleported you where you were two days ago, making you think you were dreaming. They were all Hokage level, but Jaraiya claimed that in all his travels he had never seen them anywhere else, and he had never met anyone who knew of them. He couldn't even figure out how to use them.

Everyone listened with rapt attention, amazed at the defenses that this 'simple' tree-house Jaraiya had spoken of before. "Even if Orochimaru knew where you were, Naruto, he'd have to send an army to get past those seals, and even then they might not make it."

Finally after endless climbing in a never-ending circle, They cam to a door at the top of the stairs. Jaraiya rummaged in his pockets and pulled out two keys that seemed to made of blue metal, "These are the only keys that can open this door, I suppose the Hokage would have worn one and the doorman, or whatever, would have worn the other. If you try to pick the lock the seal on the door will make you blind, deaf and mute." He handed one to Naruto, "This one is yours, I suggest not losing it."

Jaraiya then stuck in his key and turned it with a click, the door swung inward, revealing what a appeared to be an octagonal room with three other doors positioned around it, there was a giant ten foot wide branch, leaves and everything sticking through the middle of the room at an odd angle. Everything was made of redwood, the ceiling was steeped upwards towards the branch in the center. The walls were lined with glass windows that allowed in sunlight. On the center branch there was a five-foot wide seal of such complexity that Neji had a hard time figuring out how many layers there were with his Byakugan, there were hundreds. The room was large and spacious with couches and padded seats set about the room, and on the seats were large suitcases with all their names labeled on them.

Jaraiya turned to the group and spread his arms, "Welcome to your home away from home! Now before you go off and explore the rest of the place there are some rules that you _must_ follow. One, Naruto you will never leave the tree-house for any reason, understand?"

Naruto frowned and opened his mouth to argue when Jaraiya held up his hand, "You can't leave, because if your found its all over, you would have been brought here for no reason at all, the effort would be a waste. When you guys need to restock only _four_ of you at most and least two will go to the farming village to the North and buy supplies." Jaraiya waited until Naruto stopped fuming and nodded his head. "Rule two, those who go to town must disguise themselves to avoid anyone recognizing you, remember to use different names. Rule three, don't fall, you'll probably trigger a few hundred seals on your way down, and I wouldn't be surprised if you give away your position to any nins that are searching for your ass." Jaraiya pointed a finger at Naruto.

"And finally, rule number four… Have fun! This isn't a prison and there's plenty to do around here, there's a library full of books, a training dojo that's fully equipped and there's even this weird pool thingy. Its kinda cool when you think about it, swimming four hundred feet in the air… anyway, there's banisters and walls all over the place so you won't fall unless you want too. Now get!" Jaraiya jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the other doors that led to the outside "You've got rooms to find for yourselves.."

Everyone began to wander around the main room setting down there stuff and finding their respective suitcases.

Before Naruto went Jaraiya stopped him, "I'm going now Naruto, but before I go I want to talk to you."

Naruto frowned at him, "Your leaving already? Why?"

Jaraiya shrugged, "I got information gathering to do, like why Itachi and Orochimaru are after you. Might as well get started now, Tsunade-sama is expecting me to report back in a month."

Naruto nodded and followed the Sannin to the entry door. Jaraiya spoke in whisper so the others couldn't hear him, "The sound nins we fought on our way here. Do you know what rank they were?"

Naruto shrugged, "Either chuunin or jounin, why?" Jaraiya shook his head though, "They were genin." Naruto's eyes widened in shock, "Wha…? How do you know? And if they were they were pretty strong."

Jaraiya nodded, "Yes well the ones in the chuunin exam were strong too, I could tell they were genin from the techniques they used. They were all-based on sound or some sort of sonic energy, all sound genin learn basic sound techniques. Once they become chuunin they begin to focus on other jutsus. Jounin are in a league of their own, they're just as strong as our elite jounin in Konoha. Orochimaru will find this place someday, Naruto, I'm pretty sure of it, and when he does it won't be with genin, and maybe not even chuunin, but definitely jounin, and you better hope none of them are elite sound jounin."

Naruto shook his head, the sound village was getting stronger and stronger with each passing year, "And why do I want to hope that none of the jounin Orochimaru will send are elite, other than the fact that they're super strong and tough."

Jaraiya raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, "You don't remember? You've already fought a few elite sound nins already." Naruto raised his eyebrows, "Kimimaro? He was an elite? I couldn't even touch him, and even Gaara had a hard time beating him, I found out the only reason he won was because Kimimaro was sick or something and died in the middle of the fight." Jaraiya nodded, "You're forgetting the others, the rest of the sound four, they were elites too, and I was surprised when I found out that a bunch of genin had defeated them, your generation has got to be really talented or something." Jaraiya's face became solemn, "…and Sasuke too, he is an elite now as well."

Naruto's expression dropped and he lowered his eyes. Even in the only controllable stage of kyuubi and using his Rasengan Naruto wasn't able to defeat Sasuke, he hadn't stood a chance. "So the elites are the ones who survive Orochimaru's curse seal."

Jaraiya nodded, "I'm telling you this because eventually Orochimaru _will _find this place, and I want you to be prepared, to defend yourself and try to get back to the village alive. That's why the others are here, they are your bodyguards, they already know that they are expected to protect you with their lives and try their hardest to get you back to Konoha if worse comes to worst. You have awhile though, I'm certain, so prepare yourself as much as you can, you'll be lucky if Orochimaru never finds you. Understand?"

Naruto nodded, "The others, they're ready to sacrifice their lives for me aren't they? Even Hinata-chan." Jaraiya nodded with a concerned look. Naruto looked up finally, "And they don't even know why they're protecting me do they? None of us know why Orochimaru wants me dead, and all we know is that the Akutsuki want the kyuubi in me, and the others don't even know that do they? They just know that they need to keep me alive and away from Itachi at all costs." Naruto paused sighing, "It just seems wrong for them to do this for me, and yet they're willing do so, just because they were told too."

Jaraiya reached up and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You're wrong, they're not protecting you with their lives because they were told to, but because they _want_ to. They are risking their lives for you because they are your friends Naruto, they are doing this because they care for you."

Naruto shook his head, clearing the tears that were beginning to sting his eyes, "But that's because they don't know… they don't know about kyuubi, if they did, if any of them did, even Hinata-chan, they wouldn't be doing this, they wouldn't even be here with me. They wouldn't trust me, they'd leave me and never talk to me again. I know because everyone else who knows, other than you, Iruka-sensei and Obaa-chan, hates my guts. Whose to say they wouldn't act the same way?"

Jaraiya smiled, "We accept you for who you are Naruto, the others who don't like you, they don't know who you are, and they probably never will. But they…" Jaraiya nodded his head at the others, "…they know who you are. I have a feeling that they'll react in a completely opposite way than what you said. But that's my opinion, I can't convince you to tell them, you have to do it yourself." Jaraiya took his hand away and headed to the door. Before he began down the stairs Jaraiya looked over his shoulder, "That pendant that Hinata gave you, its her grandmother's isn't it?"

Naruto nodded "Yeah, how did you know?" Jaraiya smiled, "Her grandmother was the one who I dated, you know, the one who taught me how to use jyuuken? Well, she would have given me that if I had done one thing."

Naruto raised an eyebrow "Which was…?" Jaraiya smiled and laughed, "If I married her of course! I packed my bags the next day and ran as fast as I could, I left her an apology note and stayed away from Konoha for a few years."

Naruto rolled his eyes, _figures_. Jaraiya grinned "You should ask Hinata why she _really_ gave it to you. Later."

And with that Jaraiya closed the door behind him and descended the stairs to the outer door, _was it the left hand or the right hand? I hope I get it right this time…

* * *

_

Naruto turned back to the room and walked over to his luggage, _jeez he must have took everything from my room!_ His six foot tall speakers were even there.

Hinata came over to him, "Are you okay? I saw you and Jaraiya-sama talking." Naruto shrugged and grinned widely "Ah, Ero-sennin was just telling me not to trip and fall off a wall or something." He then put his arm around Hinata and pulled her close, "Come on! We've got rooms to find!"

All the others came over hearing Naruto and agreed. Neji spoke up, "We should explore the entire village and become acquainted with it, we'll be staying here for awhile after all, we should learn all the inns and outs of this place."

Naruto nodded in agreement "Hell yeah! Come on guys lets check this place out!" Together they all went out one of the doors.

Outside there was a balcony that circled the entire building, what they saw was astonishing. There were other buildings, much like the one they started out in octagonal shaped with steeped roof and a branch sticking through it, some were lower, others higher, some were multi-leveled, and there were a couple that were situated around the trunks of the trees, making them huge bigger than the building they were at. Some trees had multiple buildings in their branches, with ladders and arched bridges connecting them. Different trees were connected by rope bridges with wood planks to walk on, the bridges were large, some spanned over a hundred feet long and twenty feet wide, some bridges were supported in the middle by an out-flung branch.

In the distance they could see other buildings in other trees. As they walked around the balcony, it began to spiral upward around the trunk of the huge tree. They passed more and more buildings, built higher and higher, until they finally broke the surface of the forest canopy...

...eight hundred feet in the air.

There was a little watch tower at the top of the central tree. Inside there were no walls, only banisters and a large telescope that looked out the domed roof, it was a mini observatory. There were also mini telescopes attached to the banisters so one could look out over the forest, and even at some of the buildings through the leaves. Naruto remembered that this was invisible to anybody who wasn't actually in the village.

Naruto suddenly noticed something, there were thick cables that ran from the edge of the dome roof out into leaves, and there were handles that hung from them. Naruto's heart began to pound with excitement, if those were what he thought they were… _I've gotta try one._ Naruto walked over to one and grabbed the handle bars, two sheaths extended out from where it attached to the cable and gripped his hands so that he couldn't let go, Naruto shrugged, at least he wouldn't have to worry about falling.

Sakura looked up from one of the telescopes, "Naruto? What the hell are you doing?" an edge of worry had crept into her voice, causing the others to look up at Naruto with confused looks.

Naruto looked over his shoulder and grinned, "See ya guys at the bottom!" He then jumped forward and lifted his legs over the banister.

Everyone yelled at once "NARUTO!"

* * *

Naruto didn't hear them though, he began to descend rapidly towards the tops of the other trees, he was afraid he was going to hit a branch, when he went through a hole that was camouflaged to look solid. The cable then dipped at a near ninety degree angle and Naruto began to race so fast that the air was whipping his face "WHAHOOOOOOOO!" 

As he approached a branch he could see the cable was attached to the branch by a metal arch the caused the cable to twist around the branch. _Oh shit._ Naruto hit the turn at over seventy miles an hour, causing his body to shoot out at a ninety degree angle to the ground, and forcing him to experience some major G-forces. "AHHHHHH!" The zip-line continued down, then up, with twist turns and dips around, over, below and even through branches and trunks of trees. It was a freaking rollercoaster.

Finally the handles hit what seemed to be magnetic brakes, so that Naruto slowed down gently and finally stopped at a balcony of another building. When Naruto put his feet to the floor, the hand guards came undone and with a whirring sound the handles zoomed backwards back to their place of origin.

Naruto looked around, _what a rush! I wonder what the others are like?_

He was apparently in a landing platform, it was small with small hatch-door in the floor that led to the building beneath it. Naruto looked out at the other buildings and spotted the central tree in the distance with its winding balcony that went to the top. He was pretty far from it. _Its going to be a bitch finding my way back, oh well, might as well see where I am._

Naruto opened the hatch-door and descended down a ladder into a room with a staircase that went downwards. At the bottom he found himself in what must have been the dojo. It was huge, the middle was completely dominated by the trunk of the tree it was situated around. The ceiling was about fifty feet high near the center and the walls extended even farther from the trunk. It was mostly open space, with connecting buildings that held weapons, training gear and even changing rooms and showers. Naruto figured about a hundred shinobi could have trained in this building without fear of crowding.

Naruto started to make his way back towards the central tree, it wasn't hard, all you had to do was find bridges that went in the general direction you wanted to go. He was at the central tree in about half an hour of walking.

* * *

He went into the room and found Sakura, Tenten Hinata sitting on a couch. "Hey guys, I'm back! Man was that a ride!" They all looked up in surprise, then Sakura stood up and stalked towards him with a glare painted across her face. "S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto suddenly wasn't sure if he should have just gone off on the zip-line like that. 

Naruto suddenly found Sakura's fist connecting with his stomach, driving all the air out of his lungs, he heard a couple of his ribs snap, "Ugh!" _Holy shit she can hit hard!_ But before he could even bend down and grab his stomach, her palm connected with the left side of his face, sending him crashing into a wall. She then stalked over to him again, her hands clenched at her sides and her eyes hidden in the shadow of her hair.

He could here Hinata-chan's voice "S-Sakura-chan? Please… don't!" But Sakura ignored her, he got to his knees slowly, she had nearly broken his jaw, but she definitely severely bruised the entire side of his face, his left eye was having trouble focusing, and he could feel blood trickling from his ear, he couldn't hear out of it. His world was spinning, he couldn't defend himself, he didn't want to though, he figured this was how she would treat him if she knew the truth about him. He braced himself for another hit.

But instead he felt soft hands caress the side of his face, he looked up to find Sakura's eyes filled with tears and she was smiling. He felt her healing chakra seep into the side of his face, mending the muscle and restoring his hearing and sight and even reaching down into his chest and mending his broken ribs. Naruto could only give a confused look.

Sakura shook her head smiling, "Please, don't ever do something like that again. We were so worried about you, especially Hinata. We didn't know if the zip-line was still working, and so we didn't know what happened to you, we… we thought you fell when we lost sight of you. Neji and Lee are out looking for you."

Naruto finally noticed that Hianta-chan's eyes were red and puffy and tears streaked her face. He suddenly felt guilty, he made them worry so much that they thought he was seriously hurt, or worse, dead.

Hinata jumped up and ran to him, collapsing in his arms, "I thought… I thought you were…" She couldn't finish the sentence, she began to cry new tears and buried her face in his chest.

Naruto wrapped his arms around her, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have worried you so much."

Sakura stood up and looked down at him wiping away her tears, "You may think we're just here to protect you because we were ordered to, but we volunteered for this. You're our friend Naruto, and we agreed to this knowing full well that we were agreeing to sacrifice ourselves to keep you alive." Tenten got and stood by Sakura nodding her head in agreement. "So you can see why we were so worried about you. We care about you, and right now, you're the most important person in _all_ our lives."

Hinata sniffed and looked up into his face, "We all love you Naruto-kun, in our own way, even if we weren't on mission to protect your life with ours, we'd still do it anyways. You changed so many of us in such good ways. We don't want to lose you." Sakura and Tenten were suddenly joined by Neji and Lee, "She's right" Neji stated matter of factly, Lee nodded his head vigorously, "She is correct comrade, you have made many changes in our lives ever since we bothered to get to know you…" Sakura spoke up "…ever since we bothered to acknowledge you."

Naruto couldn't help himself, no one had ever said such things to him other than Hinata-chan, but this time was different, they weren't only saying that they wanted him around, they were saying they _needed_ him. He began to cry, and for once he couldn't tell whether it was from sadness or joy.

Hinata reached up and put her arms around his neck, embracing him and whispering "I love you Naruto-kun, and I expect you to keep your promise."

Naruto nodded, unable to speak, his throat felt choked from the sobs he was holding back. They didn't know about kyuubi, but even so they accepted him for who he was, cared and even loved him for who he was. Maybe Jaraiya-sensei was right for once. They needed him and, he realized, he needed them for more than one reason. They were his friends, the people he held precious and close to his heart, when he was younger he never thought he would have friends, but here he was, an unrealized dream come true.

Naruto wiped away his tears and looked up, "Thank you, for everything you guys, I'd say you didn't have to do this for me, but you already let me know that you want too. And I'm guessing I can't stop you huh?" They all shook their heads, smiles on all their faces.

Naruto grinned "Then just be warned, none of you are dieing to save me, I promise you, so don't argue about it, _none_ of you are going to die for me, I won't allow it. Understood? I don't care what the mission says, if you're going to protect my life, than I'm doing the same, whether you like it or not." He stood up pulling Hinata with him, everyone else nodded their heads slowly.

Naruto grinned, "Alright! Lets check this place out then! We still gotta find our own rooms. And I want to see where those other zip-lines go to, that one went to the dojo."

Neji looked at Lee then back at Naruto, "Lee-san and I will check the other zip-lines to see where they lead and whether they're safe, the rest of you find your rooms and don't worry about too much exploring, I found a map." Neji walked over to the branch sticking through the middle of the room and pushed a wooden knot as if it were a button. A section of the branch flipped around revealing a large map that detailed each of the buildings, how big they were, where they were and even what their altitude was. Naruto could see red lines showing ladders and bridges and yellow lines cthat urved around the buildings and trees, representing the zip-lines. Neji pointed at a building that a had a red arrow pointed at it that said 'you are here!', "I think we should find rooms that are in the central tree, that way we can use this area as the basic meeting place, and since the kitchen and storage buildings are here as well."

Everyone voiced their agreement, and rushed over to the map to check where the different rooms were. Tenten and Sakura chose a room together, not asking Hinata if she wanted to sleep with them, figuring Hinata would want to be with Naruto. Lee and Neji chose their own rooms a little below the main building.

Hinata clung to Naruto, and began to blush as Naruto-kun's finger stopped on a room that was apparently meant for two people. All the others had already found what rooms they wanted on the map and had grabbed their things and left the main room.

Hinata hadn't even thought about the fact that she might be sharing a room with Naruto. Naruto saw Hinata's blush, "Don't worry, there's two beds, so you know we don't have to…" Naruto began to blush at the thought, he began to wonder if he could find a two-person bed to put in the room, then blushed even more as he realized what he was thinking. "I-is this room okay H-Hinata-chan?" He was stuttering, he couldn't believe he was embarrassing himself so much.

Hinata nodded slowly "Y-yes, its good." Naruto nodded as well still a little pink, "Okay, lets get our stuff and head up there, I think we'll need a couple of trips though." Naruto was eyeing his sound system and TV warily.

Hinata giggled and began to grab her things. It began to dawn on her that she was more alone with Naruto-kun than she ever had been before, there were only six of them in this entire area, days away from any real civilization other than farms. She was going to be alone with the man of her dreams, her boyfriend who she loved more than life itself for a year, probably more.

And she was sharing a room with him.

* * *

Woot! Next chapters are going to be fun, I can't wait until later in the story, its going to be so cool! But I shall wait and not rush my work. My main concern is giving you, my audience, a good story, plus I want to give myself a good story to read as well. Thats how you can usually tell if your work is any good or not, you enjoy reading it, looking at it or watching it yourself (depending on what it is). 

Anyway enough of my art philosophy.

Give me your Reviews! They give me sustenance and Life! Hahahah!

**Next Chapter:** Lots and Lots of Fluff! Some more interaction going on between everyone, which may include some sparring between the boys and some comedic spying of the girls shower room (Bad Naruto! Bad Lee! Bad Neji!) oh yeah, and more fluff!


	10. Strong Feelings

Man, finally! I have enough time to finish this chapter. I have to apologize to everyone, I never expected to have so little time to work on this, and even so I didn't expect it to take so long. So sorry, I hope you can forgive me.

I admit I will be a bit slower on putting up chapters due to work, and me moving. I've been working day in and day out, either going to my last weeks of work or helping my family pack up the house. Not to mention the fact that the very little time I got spend on the computer was to click a couple of buttons to download stuff, mostly Bleach Manga and Episodes. All you out there who love Naruto, check out Bleach if you haven't already, I gaurantee you'll love it. And if not then poo on you.

Anyway, thank you again for all the reviews, I would appreciate if _everyone_ who lists my story under their favorites would at least put up _a_ review each time I post. It doesn't have to be long, just state what you liked, and what you think I could work on. Or just state that you liked it and move on. For those of you who review everytime I post, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Anyways, enough of my blabbing, I tried to take some actual time and edit this before posting. So ENJOY!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 10:Strong Feelings**

"So… what you're trying to tell me, is you don't know where they are. Am I right so far?" There was a faint hissing in the voice that came from deep within the shadows, as if a snake were attempting to speak.

Duseto had no problem hearing the anger in his master's voice. "My apologies Orochimaru-sama, but the Frog Sannin, Jaraiya… he took them somewhere that we had no idea even existed. All we were able to gather was that its called the 'tree-house'."

The anger in the hissing voice only seemed to grow, "You failed me again. First you prove yourself unable to kill a mere genin! Now you can't even find him! I told you the price of failing me a second time Duseto…"

Duseto could feel the sweat trickle its way down his spine, like an ice cold river. His body began to shake uncontrollably. "N-no! Please master! I will find him, I swear it! J-just give me more time!"

Orochimaru stepped from the shadows, towering over the quivering from of Duseto, his new body was truly terrifying to behold. He had decided that human bodies were too weak and so he had his trusted second in command summon him an Oni, a demon of the spirit world. When Orochimaru had been brought back by Kabuto, bloody and barely clinging to life from his battle with that despicable Itachi, he had the demon waiting for him in a specially prepared cage.

The process was painful for both the demon and Orochimaru, because the oni was in truth a being of spirit and didn't have a true body, Orochimaru had to slowly and carefully fuse himself with the insane amount of demonic energy. The end result was what stood before Duseto now.

Orochimaru was now over seven feet tall, but he still possessed the lithe and supple body that he always preferred. His eyes now glowed red with an infernal light, so that from a distance it looked as if his eyes were on fire. When he smiled Duseto could see the rows and rows of countless fangs that made up Orochimaru's mouth, his tongue was as long as ever but now forked like a real snakes. Long curved and twisting horns stuck up through his greasy black hair; and from his shoulders, elbows and knees, clusters of bony spikes tore through his robes. His nails had grown into black claws that were as hard as steel, Duseto had seen him slice through a rock wall with those claws. And from Orochimaru's back sprouted a single leathery wing like a giant bat that extended out to his right side, and from the other side where one would think the other wing would be, grew a monstrous three-fingered arm that rippled with muscle and had claws as long as wakizashis. Duseto had only seen Orochimaru with his robes off once, underneath the clothing tentacles and spikes stuck out of his body at strange angles and he was marked, seemingly at random, with black and red stripes that made him look like he was on fire.

Duseto lowered his eyes from the monster that appeared before him, he could see through the clothing what appeared to be snakes writhing against Orochimaru's body. "Please Orochimaru-sama, I beg of you, I just need more time."

Orchimaru smiled, flashing the innumerable amount of needle-like fangs that filled his mouth, "Your time is up Duseto."

From behind the closed doorway all one could hear was the high-pitched screaming of a man under the most extreme amount of pain imaginable.

Sasuke smiled devilishly. After Orochimaru was done with him, he would be able to have his fun as well.

* * *

"Hinata-chan! Rise and shine!" Naruto was squatting on her headboard, so that he was looking down at Hinata's head. "C'mon, wake up already!" 

Hinata grumbled something incoherent, but then slowly opened her eyes to the loud voice that was Naruto. Her eyes snapped open when she saw Naruto squatting over her, "Kyaaaaaa!"

Naruto yelled as well at Hinata's startled reaction, and then lost his balance falling forward onto Hinata. "Umpf!" Naruto felt his head hit something hard and everything suddenly went black as he was knocked out.

Hinata grunted when Naruto fell on her, and then felt a sharp pain as her knee collided with his skull. Then she froze, realizing what position they were in, her head was between his legs so she had a perfect view of Naruto's rear and the lettering on the back of his boxer-shorts, which read 'Quit Staring'. And he was face down, his head between her…

"KYAAAAAAAHH!" Hinata jerked, throwing Naruto off the side of her bed so that he landed with a soft grunt as he struck the wood floor, while she grabbed her bed sheets and drew them up to her chest, even though she was wearing a t-shirt. All the time she was blushing crazily and breathing hard, her heart beating uncontrollably.

Naruto-kun had done some weird things to wake her up in the morning but nothing like this had ever happened before.

* * *

They had been there for exactly a week now, and she still wasn't used to it. Naruto had to wake her up every morning because she was sleeping in so late, he was beginning to worry about her because she had black bags under eyes every morning when she woke up. 

The reason for this was Hinata was having trouble sleeping, she'd lay in bed staring at the ceiling unable to will herself asleep due to all the thoughts racing through her head. Most of them having to do with the beautiful male ninja that was sleeping soundly a mere three feet away from her. At first she couldn't understand it, they had slept together before, they had even slept in each others arms! More than once! And this time they weren't even sharing the same bed, they had three feet of empty space separating their beds and for some reason it was worse than when they were pressed bodily together and sharing the same sleeping-bag!

After the third night of sleeplessness though she had finally figured it out. They were _alone_. It wasn't like in the Forest of Death, when they were trying to stay alive, had a mission and hadn't even proclaimed their love for each other yet, and when they were alone at his house it was for training and to get away from her father. And when they were traveling to the tree-house they were surrounded by other people.

Now though, even though they were on mission, they were truly alone with no one else around. Everyone kept to their respective rooms at night only getting up to go to the bathroom or to the kitchen for a midnight snack.

During the day Neji, Lee and Naruto would go to the dojo for a couple of hours and train, so would Tenten and Sakura, and of course they dragged along Hinata who instead ended up training with Naruto most of the time.

After their general work out every morning everyone would go and explore, Hinata had mostly spent her time in the vast library that held thousands of books on shinobi arts and just other things in general. Sakura and Tenten would explore village, checking out every building they came across and spending a lot of their time either in the baths or the giant outdoor pool, which was suspended in the branches like a birds nest with a ten foot fence around it.

Neji and Lee would usually stay in the dojo and train for the rest of the day, Naruto on the other hand, before continuing his training, would go up to the central tower and ride all the zip-lines to all the far corners of the village.

He had brought Hinata up there once on their second day there and had convinced her to try one out. It was an utterly terrifying experience, Naruto could hear Hinata's shrieks all the way down. Afterwards Naruto had agreed that he wouldn't force her on any more zip-lines. Of course because of that particular zip-line Hinata had discovered the location of the library.

When the sky turned dark and stars came out though, everyone retreated to the common room where they would lounge about and talk about the days events, joke around and play board games and cards. Eventually everyone would wander off to their rooms, Naruto and Hinata always seemed to be the last ones to leave, this was because Naruto only got up when Hinata did. The reason she didn't go to bed early was because of the evil smiles she received from Tenten and Sakura, and even Lee gave a thumbs up and winked at her and Naruto, as they left for bed. She feared what they would do if they saw her get up and leave for her room with Naruto, just the thought was embarrassing enough to make her blush.

* * *

Hinata finally gained control of her breathing and her heart beat, and slowly crawled out of bed and over to Naruto's still form. He was laying face up with a big red mark on his forehead. As she leaned over him he opened one eye and squinted up at her. 

"Did you have to throw me so hard?" His voice was weak from the lack of air in his lungs. "First I knock myself out on your knee and then you scream and wake me up and I find myself _flying_ through the air and then gracefully landing where I am now."

Hinata blushed at why she had screamed and thrown him, "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, you just… surprised me that's all."

Naruto frowned up at her, "Are you sure you're okay Hinata-chan? You tell me you are but you seem so tired every morning, and you're moving really slow during training. That's not like you," Naruto grinned "you're usually trying to beat the crap out of me."

Hinata smiled back, "No I'm not! I've just gotten a bit more… competitive, thanks to you."

Naruto laughed and sat up and putting his arm around her waist and pulling her against him so that their faces were only centimeters apart. "Good… I like you better when your not so shy."

Hinata blushed, but didn't move her gaze from his eyes. Her heart always started beating hard in her chest when he did this, pulling her so close they might as well be kissing but weren't. "I-I like myself better this… way… too…" Naruto was pulling her closer, slowly, until finally, their lips met.

It never failed to amaze her every time that she would melt at just the touch of Naruto's lips against hers. It was like a drug, the taste of his lips, addictive, and the feeling giving her slight adrenaline rush and causing her head to swim.

Every time he kissed her like this, she felt… she felt as if she had stepped into another world, where a part of her she never knew, existed. She felt as if she could stay like this forever, their lips locked in an eternal embrace. But… at the same time she was afraid of would happen if it lasted _too_ long, every time they kissed, the beast that took the strange form of a mysterious heat that filled her body to the brim would come erupting from her core, growing hotter and hotter until it got to the point she _had_ to pull away or else she would explode.

Luckily he pulled away first this time. Her vision was blurred and her head swam, she felt drunk. Finally, after a couple of moments, her vision cleared and she could see the concerned look on Naruto-kun's face, he couldn't help but smile though after their kissing, it gave him a more of an amused look than a concerned look.

Hinata hugged him, "I'm fine, really. I'm just not getting enough sleep that's all. I guess there's a lot on my mind lately."

Naruto stood up, pulling Hinata up with him, swaying a little from the impact to his head. "Well, if you need to talk about anything I'm always here. And… I guess if its girl stuff you don't want to talk about with me, you should go talk to Tenten and Sakura I think." Naruto smiled, "Just a thought."

Hinata nodded, "I think I will, arigatou Naruto-kun." She stood on tip-toe and kissed his cheek, then grabbed her clothes and headed to the bathroom to change.

Naruto turned pink when Hinata turned her back on him, her sweat pants seemed to cling to her back-side in a very revealing way. Naruto turned around quickly and grabbed his own clothes to change into.

He thought that maybe he should take a cold shower this morning as well.

* * *

Lee's foot was heading high for the back of his head, while Neji's kick was coming from the other side at the same time and aimed for his gut. Naruto didn't have time to think, he leaped into the air and twisted one foot going high the other going low and successfully blocking both kicks. Naruto quickly twisted again and struck with his foot at Lee and his fist at Neji. Neji dodged the punch and Lee grabbed his foot and threw him through the air, Naruto flipped and landed lightly on his feet. It hadn't even taken three seconds. 

When he looked up Neji and Lee were charging again, and this time Hinata was coming up from behind. Naruto ran away from Hinata and charged Neji and Lee head on, jumping into the air and throwing out both of his legs, trying to kick both of their faces at once. Neji and Lee side-stepped just as he hoped, Naruto slammed his hand into the floor, stopping his forward movement and putting him in a one armed handstand. He twisted, kicking out both of his legs and performing a helicopter kick, he caught Lee in the face and Neji in the ribs sending them both flying. Not stopping his movement, Naruto brought his legs low so that he was performing sweep kick that looked like a break-dance move, attempting to trip Hinata who had come up behind him. But he hit empty air.

Naruto looked up to see Hinata coming down with her knee aimed for his face, Naruto rolled to the side and flipped up to his feet, feeling the rush of air as Hinata landed next to him, her knee cracking the floor boards underneath her. Hinata pushed off from her crouched position with her hands sending both her feet for Naruto's chest, Naruto barely sidestepped as her toes brushed against his shirt. Naruto felt the air stir behind him and jumped into the air on instinct, performing a back-flip as both Lee and Neji attempted to sweep his legs from under him. Naruto landed behind Neji and Lee but they were already moving towards him, Neji sliding low trying to take out his legs and Lee in the air above him, doing a front-flip and giving his downward heel slam more momentum.

Again Naruto didn't think, just reacted. Naruto grabbed Neji's foot with both of his feet, and caught Lee's foot with both of his hands. Because of Lee's downward momentum and Neji's forward momentum, Naruto found himself flipping forward, pulling Neji up into the air and Lee into a complete flip so that his back was to him. Naruto pulled hard, letting go of both of them and completing his flip and then striking out with both of his fists at Neji's gut and both feet at Lee's back. Both hits connected sending Lee and Neji flying, Naruto landed in a heap on the floor though forcing the wind from his lungs.

Hinata was above him again bringing her heel down towards his gut, Naruto couldn't move though, he had been going for two hours straight now, he was winded, sore and he had just lost all of his breath, he held his arms up weakly in an attempt to block and waited for Hinata's kick to crush him.

The impact didn't come, instead her heel was resting on his forearms as she stood on one leg and looked down at him with a concerned look. "Break time?"

Naruto nodded weakly, and closed eyes, relieved to finally get a little rest. His shirt and pants were soaked with sweat and he was breathing as if he had run all day. Hinata sat behind him and put his head in her crossed legs so that he was looking up at an upside down face of the most beautiful woman in the world.

Naruto closed his eyes blissfully as she began to massage his temples, causing his entire body to relax, he didn't know how she knew this, but one day she had just started massaging his temples, and from then on he had Hinata rub his temples whenever he got stressed. He didn't know why but it completely relaxed him. Hinata had to stifle a giggle at Naruto-kun's peaceful expression.

* * *

It had been a week since Naruto's 'accident' when he tried to wake Hinata up. And they had been training Naruto hard like this everyday, two on one and three on one, some days Sakura and Tenten would join and Naruto would find himself constantly moving to defend and dodge the five shinobis attacking him. 

It was because he had asked them to. If they were attacked in the future, Naruto had already stated that he wasn't going to run and leave them behind. And so Neji and Lee had thought up a training program to put Naruto in the top fighting condition. This involved Neji and Lee double teaming him in sparring, and then Naruto Hinata and Neji would jutsu duel, where Naruto had to guess the jutsu and successfully dodge and counter it.

Sakura, who proved rather good at genjutsu, would perform numerous illusions on Naruto, each one harder than the last, and Naruto would be timed on how long it took him to get out of them. Naruto then did weapons training and Target practice with Tenten, racing with Lee through the village, and meditation exercises with Neji.

Naruto also found himself in the library everyday with Hinata, reading up on battle strategies and jutsus that famous shinobi of the past had used. Naruto found himself reading Shikamaru's book that he had given him, 'How to Master Chess and Your Opponent'. Naruto was amazed at how almost all of the strategies in chess could be used in real life battle situations.

Naruto spent a lot of his free-time sitting in the library with Hinata-chan, both buried in their respective books. Naruto reading his Chess book, intently studying it and even writing in notes in the margarines. He'd have to remind himself to thank Shikamaru properly someday, this book ruled!

* * *

Neji stood up, rubbing his gut, "Your reaction speed is improving rapidly Naruto, I'm impressed." Naruto raised his eyebrows and grunted in agreement. It was a rare event indeed when Neji gave a comment. "If I had my Byakugan active though, you wouldn't have stood a chance." 

Lee piped up, rubbing his lower back where Naruto had kicked him, "Yes! I agree, if I were not wearing these fifty kilo leg weights, I would… how do you put it? 'Whoop your butt?' And I would not even break a sweat!"

Naruto frowned and grunted and raised his fist in the sir, shaking it slightly, "Just you wait, I'm going to get up and kick both your asses again, and this time _with_ Hinata performing her temple massage jutsu at the same time. Then we'll see who'd whoop who's butt."

Naruto and Lee erupted in laughter, while Hinata giggled at Naruto's playful attitude. Neji half-smiled at the stupidity of Naruto's joke.

Sakura and Tenten stood up from where they were sitting and walked over to join the group. Sakura walked over and started healing Lee's back, for he had collapsed on the ground from laughing too hard and sending pain through his entire back side. He and Naruto were still laughing though, no matter how much it hurt.

Sakura sighed, would they ever grow up? "Alright, jokes over. Time for your genjutsu training Naruto."

Naruto sighed with an exasperated tone, "Can we _please _take a break today? We've been training like this for over week straight. Can we have at least one day off?"

Neji frowned, "We shouldn't…"

"Sure!"

Everyone looked up at Tenten, Tenten just shrugged "Sure, why not? We should take a break at least once a week so that we don't over work ourselves, especially you Naruto, since most of this training is really for you." She then turned to a confused a Sakura and gave her peculiar yet meaningful look.

Sakura's face lit up in a smile and both she and Tenten leapt forward, grabbing Hinata by the arms and dragging her out of the dojo. Sakura looked over her shoulder at a protesting Hinata and stated mischievously "You're always in that musty library, you haven't even gone to the baths with me and Tenten once. You need to relax some, besides, weren't there things you _needed_ to talk to us about? Hmm?"

Hinata blushed at what Sakura meant, and allowed herself to be drug towards the girls bath house.

Naruto watched helplessly as his source of temple-massaging was dragged bodily away. Lee stood up, stretching his newly healed back, "We should probably take baths as well my comrades, the spring of youth may be strong in us, but I fear we are in need of some rest and relaxation as well.

Neji nodded in agreement, "I would prefer not to return to my room smelling like a pig-sty."

Naruto nodded too and jumped running for the door, "Last one there's got to lick the dirt off my foot!"

Lee leapt after him, "I shall not lick the soil from your foot comrade! That shall be Neji's doing!" Hearing this Neji also sprinted after them, _I am **not** licking Naruto's foot.

* * *

_

Nevertheless… Naruto ended up licking his own foot, much to the amusement of Neji and Lee.

The baths were both out door hot-springs, how there could be hot-springs four hundred feet in the air, none of them could really figure out. They figured that the baths, which were made from rock like real springs were some how lifted into the branches, filled with water, and constantly kept heated to a comfortable temperature with some strange jutsu none of them had ever heard of. Both baths were surrounded with shrubbery and bushes and were encircled with a wooden fence to prevent anyone from accidentally falling, both baths were separated by the same fence.

Neji sat in the water on one of the underwater stone benches and rested his head on the rocky poolside, his eyes closed. Naruto and Lee on the other hand took turns performing cannonballs and flips in the deep section of the pool.

On the other side Hinata was being interrogated by Sakura and Tenten, _again._

"Soooo? Do you two still sleep in separate beds? Or do two sleep together now, like when we were traveling here?" Sakura was asking this, her eyebrow raised questioningly. Both her and Tenten's eyes sparkled with barely controlled curiosity. Both of them were standing so that the water came up to their waists, Hinata though had sunk into the water until the water covered her mouth and she was breathing from her nose. She shook her head slowly, feeling the blush spread through her body, she was glad she was mostly submersed.

Sakura looked shocked, "What! But you two shared the _same_ _sleeping-bag_ on our way here! What's wrong with sleeping in the same bed?" Tenten nodded in agreement.

Hinata lifted her head so she could use her mouth, "I-its because we weren't _alone_ when we were on our way here. Now though… being in the same bed with would be like…"

"Exactly girl!" Tenten had jumped up splashing both of them, "You've got to get him when he's not expecting it!" Tenten slammed her fist into her palm, "Sneak up on him and TAKE-HIM-DOWN!"

Hinata and Sakura looked up, dumbfounded at Tenten's excitement. She blushed and sank into the water so that she was level with Hinata and stared into the water, "I mean… when are you going to get another chance Hinata? After we leave here you'll be back with your clan, and we all know that your father hates Naruto. If… if I got a chance like that, I… I wouldn't waste it, that's all I'm trying to say."

Sakura smiled, understanding. "She's right Hinata, you and Naruto are finally alone, its not like you and Naruto will get another chance like this. Besides, I seriously don't know how you can lay there at night with that half-naked, gorgeous body of his right next to you and not take advantage of it."

Hinata blushed again, "I'm just not sure if that's what I want yet, I mean I know I'm sixteen and that's old enough to get married. But isn't it wrong to do it before you're married?"

Sakura smiled, "Only if you think so sweetie, tell me, do you love him?"

"Yes! Of course I do!"

Tenten spoke up, "With all of your heart?"

"Y-yes!" Hinata frowned, she didn't understand what they were trying to get at now.

Sakura looked down into Hinata's eyes, "Do you want to marry him? And if so do you plan on it?"

Hinata blushed, "…y-yes I do. A-and…" Hinata's voice took on a determined tone "…and I _will_ marry him if the last thing I do."

Sakura then said bluntly, "_And_ if you two were to have premarital sex, would it feel wrong?"

Hinata blushed uncontrollably at Sakura's bluntness, "No. No it wouldn't, not at all."

Sakura couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the certainty in Hinata's voice, "And now. Do you _want_ too?"

Hinata shook her head, "I don't know… it's weird but… oh, never mind." Sakura and Tenten on the other hand leaned forward, curiosity literally written on their faces. Tenten held up a finger and shook it at Hinata, "Oh, no you don't! You don't start telling us a secret and stop with 'never mind'. We agreed to share all our secrets with each other and keep them secret remember? Now come on, spill." Sakura nodded her head vigorously in agreement.

Hinata sighed, she could never lie to them, or any of her friends for that matter, and once Sakura and Tenten wanted to know something, it was best just to avoid the pain and tell them, 'cause they were going to find out anyway. Like it or not.

Hinata breathed in deeply before starting. "Well… when we kiss… or when he gets close to me, or when I see his… uh, 'half-naked gorgeous body', I feel this… I don't know, its kind of like this burning heat that starts here…" Hinata stood up and pressed her hands to her tummy, "…and then spreads all over, all the way to my fingertips and toes and to my face. And I feel like I'm a totally different person!" Hinata was pacing back and forth now, getting into the explanation, she had never told anyone about this before and she desperately wanted to know if anyone knew what it was. "I mean, when he first came back I'd feel it and want to do things that I've never thought I'd ever do, like hugging and kissing him. Then after the chuunin exam, it just got worse. After that day in the hospital when we first kissed… I can't explain it, whether its because he told me he loved me or because of the dreams I've been having… but it gets stronger every time! I mean at first it was this warmth that made me tingle all over, but now its this raging inferno that's fighting to get out. I feel numb and tingly all over, I can't see or even think straight. I… I feel… I feel like an animal! An animal that's hunting, and my prey is Naruto-kun! And every time we kiss, and even now every time we're alone and he touches me it gets stronger and stronger, and I just don't know what would happen…if I…just let it take over."

Hinata stopped ranting and pacing and turned to look at Sakura and Tenten, who were both in the water up to their necks, both of them breathing hard and their faces flushed. Hinata realized she was in the same condition from her vivid description and dropped quickly into the water, turning beet red all over so that she resembled a lobster.

Sakura could only stare wide-eyed, "…w-wow…" A few more moments passed before she spoke again. "You… you really feel like that when you guys kiss?" Hinata nodded slowly, "I didn't know it was so bad with you!"

Hinata looked up, confused, "What do you mean? Do you know what it is?"

Sakura and Tenten both nodded. Tenten spoke up, "I definitely know what it is, of course I don't have it as bad as you girlfriend." Sakura nodded, "I know a little bit too. Hinata, you want him, _bad_, 'cause girl what your feeling is lust."

Hinata's eyes widened, "L-lust? But isn't that wrong?" Sakura shook her head, "Its okay to lust after the one you love, as long you still love them and just don't want them for the sex."

Hinata shook her head, "I would never do that to him! I love him, I don't want anything _but_ him… completely." Hinata said the last in a barely audible whisper.

Sakura hear it though, "Oh boy, you definitely want him. From what Tsunade-sensei tells me, if you don't do it soon on your own accord your going to do it sooner or later whether you like it or not, and its going to be when you lose control of yourself. That could be bad or good, it depends I guess."

Hinata nodded her head, slowly coming to grips with the truth of what she was feeling. But she still had too many doubts, "But what about by father? What if we do and I'm horrible at it, or… or I try and he doesn't want too?" Tears began to leak from her eyes at that last thought, she'd understand if Naruto didn't want too, but she couldn't help but feel crushed at the thought that he would reject her.

Sakura and Tenten came forward and began to comfort Hinata. Once she had calmed down a little, Sakura put both her hands on Hinata's shoulders and looked her in the eye.

"Alright, I have to get rid of your doubts. First, ever since you told Naruto that you loved him, ever since you did the chuunin exam actually, when did you care what your father really thought about you? He doesn't treat you with respect Hinata, and even though I know that all parents would be against it, the truth is, I've never seen something so _right_ when I see you and Naruto together. So who the hell cares what the old wind-bag thinks?"

Hinata smiled slightly at the jest and nodded her head. Sakura was right, she had given up on gaining her father's respect when he removed her from the position of heir. She had realized not too long ago that she hadn't done the chuunin exam for her father, or even for Naruto. But for herself, to prove to herself that she wasn't the trash that her father thought she was. And to prove that she was the strong individual that Naruto-kun believed her to be.

Sakura smiled as Hinata's self-esteem began to recover, "Second; about you sucking in bed. Tsunade-sensei happens to talk _a lot _about her sex life when she's had a bit to much to drink. I trained with her for three years everyday, and I've heard some things that could curdle milk. To say the least she was pretty active in her early years before she met 'Mr. Right'. But I also happened to learn a lot of useful secrets pertaining to our discussion. Probably more than a girl my age should know, but I think you need this knowledge more than me, so you and I are going to have a little discussion on _techniques_."

Hinata turned pink at the evil grin Sakura gave her, she was embarrassed that Sakura-chan was going to tell her some very explicit things, but at the same time she could feel herself yearning to know. If she was going to sleep with Naruto, she wanted him to enjoy it as much as possible.

She suddenly realized that she had made her decision, that she really was going too before they left the tree-house. But then the thought of her last objection quickly stifled her confidence.

Sakura saw Hinata's face drop, "And as for number three, do you really think Naruto would do something like that? And even if he did, do really think he'd do it in a way that would be hurtful to you?" Hinata thought about his for a moment, and shook her head, Naruto would never hurt her, physically or emotionally. Sakura continued though, "Plus, he's a guy, Hinata. Trust me, he wants to too. Knowing him he probably tries to avoid thinking about it for the same reasons you do. Because he doesn't want to suck, because he's afraid you'd reject 'cause you don't want to, or because you'd think he's perverted. I know for a fact that he avoids trying to act perverted like that Jaraiya guy. Naruto's gotten older, he's grown up now."

Hinata nodded, what Sakura said made sense, though it embarrassed her a little bit that Naruto thought the same things as her. She wondered if he thought about it, or dreamed about it like she did. The thought made her blush.

* * *

Neji couldn't believe his ears, "What?" 

Naruto smiled wickedly, "Come on! Lets spy on the girls! I used to do stuff like that when I was twelve, its awesome for learning how to do the sexy jutsu. Come on, it'll be fun!"

Neji frowned, "Naruto, we're not twelve anymore, we're sixteen, in Konoha we're technically adults. Don't you think we're a little to young to pull off childish pranks like that? Besides, I think it will be different for you now Naruto, spying on girls is a little bit different when you're a teenager and going through puberty."

Naruto shrugged, "Whatever, c'mon Neji, it'll be great. What about you Lee? I can't do it without you guys." Naruto looked over his shoulder to find Lee blushing and staring into the water.

Lee looked up at the mention of his name, "Um, but what if we are caught Naruto-san?"

Naruto laughed, "Then we run away! Duh! They'll never be able catch us, and we can lock ourselves in our rooms for a bit until they calm down. Besides we won't get caught, trust me!"

Neji only frowned more, "Naruto, you're an idiot."

Lee started staring into the water again, "I-I don't know…"

Naruto put his arm over Lee's shoulders, "C'mon buddy! Trust me it will be great! Pluuus, Sakura-chan is over there too ya know." Lee's eyes went wide at that thought, "W-well, I guess…if we don't get caught it would be okay… I guess…" Naruto laughed and slapped him on the back, "That's the spirit Lee-san! You rule! Now come on Neji, Lee's joining me."

Neji crossed his arms stubbornly, "Lee, you're an idiot too."

Naruto smiled evilly, he had already figured out what would get Neji to do it. "Um, well Neji, it would be a shame if you didn't come, I mean Tenten's over there too you know. All hot and steamy-like, but I guess if you don't want to then Lee and I will go by ourselves. Naruto turned and grabbed Lee's arm, and began to head towards the fence that separated the girl's side from the boy's. It didn't take long at all.

"Wait."

Naruto smiled to himself in triumph. He turned to see Neji stand smoothly from his sitting position, a cool expression on his face. Though he was pink slightly in the cheeks, "I guess I'm an idiot as well."

Naruto put his arm around Neji's shoulders "Welcome to the club man! Come on lets go!" Neji though, couldn't figure out how Naruto had found out.

Naruto let go of both of them once they reached the fence. They couldn't hear anything from the other side, as if there was a sound barrier of some sort. Naruto gathered his chakra and performed the 'Ox' hand sign, and whispered "Wood Warp Jutsu." Three holes formed in the wood, each big enough for some one to look through and not be noticed from the other side.

As the holes opened, Naruto could suddenly hear the girls voices talking. Neji smiled, "I don't need that", and then quickly activated his Byakugan. Naruto grinned, He and Lee pressed their eyes to the peep holes.

The three girls were standing up and facing each other and whispering about something. Naruto noticed that the water only came to their waists.

Naruto suddenly realized what Neji meant about how it would be different now that he was well into puberty. Hinata had her back to him, but he had never seen so much of her skin exposed before. He froze, this is exactly the thing that Ero-sennin did, he was just justifying it to himself because of the difference in age when he was twelve. Now though, he knew exactly why Jaraiya did this. He was about to turn away and numbly go to the locker room and take a nice cold shower when Hinata turned towards the fence to head over to her towel, giving Naruto a full view of her front and at the same time exposing the fronts of Sakura and Tenten.

"**BOOM!**" As one, Neji, Lee and Naruto went flying backwards as their noses exploded in waterfalls of blood, causing them to twist through the air like rag dolls and skid across the water before coming to a halt. Naruto had never seen so much of Hinata…ever. He was ashamed, but at the same time part of him was drooling uncontrollably, he had never felt such… he had no other word for it but _wanting_. Wanting to go back over there and look at Hinata some more, wanting to put his hands… _Agh! Damn it! I'm no better that Ero-sennin!_

Lee and Neji who lay sprawled in the water next to him were apparently thinking the same mixed thoughts. But then their deep thinking was disturbed by a female voice, "… what was that Sakura?"

Naruto saw Neji's eyes, which were using the Byakugan still, go wide with an instinctual fear. "…she…she's coming!" Neji leapt out of the water and headed for the locker rooms, he looked over his shoulder, "Run! Hide!" and then suddenly disappeared through a door.

Lee suddenly disappeared as well, without his leg weights he was gone in a flash, reaching the locker room door before it even closed.

Leaving Naruto, still sprawled in the bath and with nowhere to go. He had never seen them move so fast before.

The fence suddenly exploded as someone punched it.

* * *

Sakura looked around, expecting to find three dumbfounded 'peeping tom's'. But the bath was empty, with no sign of male activity. She frowned, she was sure she had heard their voices for a moment and then some sort of weird explosion. She shook her head, maybe it had all been their imagination. She performed a quick jutsu to repair the fence and turned back towards the girls. 

Tenten raised an eyebrow, "What was it Sakura?" Sakura shook her head and shrugged, "Nothing I guess. Come on, lets hit the showers."

She then turned to Hinata and drew her close, whispering lightly into her ear, now that covers most of things you can do when he's on top, now when you're on top…"

Hinata was slowly turning so red that she was beginning to turn a dark purple, some of the things Sakura was telling her, like what to do basically, and what it was supposed to be like for her first time she already knew about from text-books she snuck peeks at when she was younger. But Sakura was telling her things she had never even imagined, not even in her dreams, like what she could do with variously shaped objects to different positions. She didn't know if this would help her or make it worse, but she could already tell her dreams were going to be ten times worse than they were before.

She was never going to get any sleep now.

* * *

One of the rocks at the bottom of the boy's bath suddenly exploded in a puff of white smoke and Naruto breached the surface and gasped as he filled his lungs with oxygen. Apparently even in rock form he still had to breathe. He had always been good at using the Transform Jutsu at a moments notice. 

He considered himself extremely lucky, if Sakura had found him, well to put it simply the mission would be over because there was no reason to guard a pile of bloody pulp. Naruto silently vowed that he would never pull that particular stunt again, especially with Hinata. Just from this first experience he wasn't sure whether he could control himself next time.

He went to the locker room, and found Lee and Neji both drenching themselves in ice cold water, both standing with arms straight and their hands against the wall, so that the shower water hit the back of their heads and flowed down their back.

Naruto went to the shower between the two men, turned on the cold nozzle to full blast, and promptly joined them. Naruto wondered how he would ever get to sleep tonight with these thoughts in his head.

None of them left the showers for another half hour.

* * *

Alright there you go you digusting perverts out there!...wait what am I saying, I _wanted_ to do this chapter. Well I'm not sure yet, but I know that within, probably the next couple of chapters I'm going to have to change this stories rating to"M". For obvious reasons.

Oh yes, I wish to point out, notice how Hinata's desire/lust changes and becomes more intense _after _she was healed by the chakra in Naruto's armbands... just pointing that out. cough

Anyway, give me reviews, give them to me now! Those of you who don't, I shall cast your pathetic souls into the firey pits of hell, and I shall have satan poke you in the ass with his pitch-fork for all eternity! Muwahahahaha!

Yeah... so uh, review please...


	11. My Heart's Lavender Eye

Yahoo! I finally have internet again! I have just been officially moved into my new house about two weeks ago. I now live in southern Georgia, nice and warm. Anyway, I have been without internet for so long that I now have _three_ chapters already finished, I'll put them up once a day.

Thank you all for the undying support, now that my life has finally seemed to stabilize, I'll have more time to work on this story. So expect more frequent updates.

Alright, its been so long that I have gotten quite a few reviews for my last chapter, (no complaining here though). Alright, my most recent ones have been of people asking me not to stop this story until I actually finish it, do not worry. I know how it feels when you start a story you like on this website and the author just stops updating and either starts a new story or disappears, and I promise not to do this. (For any of you interested, I expect this story to be long enough that I have to write a sequel. :)

And one more thing, there have been a couple of reviews that I am concerned about, and as the author of this story I feel that it is my duty to address this issue. Apparently a few people do not approve of the fact that I plan on having Naruto and Hinata have sex before marriage, (this is not the majority, but a very small minority.) For those of you who disagree, I understand your concerns and your beliefs, but this is my story, plain and simple, even though Kishimoto wouldn't put teenage Naruto and Hinata in a situation where they are alone for an extended period of time (for obvious reasons), but I have. And I know that it premarital sex is against some reilgions, but I am not christian, and frankly, I am not very religious. Plus I do not see sex as a sin, I (and this my own personal feelings) see sex, or making love as I prefer to call it, the ultimate act of expressing one's love and devotion to another, reason why I'm not really hot on the one nighter thing. So to wrap this up, Naruto and Hinata are very much in love, they are teenagers and technically adults in their society, they japanese and sadly _not_ christians, and this is my story. So basically if you don't like the ethical things in this story and want to complain about which direction the story is going in and not about my writing style or my storytelling tactics, well then... bugger off I guess. (And I mean this in the nicest of ways.) Anyway for those of you who are concerned but did not want to complain about it openly, do not fear, this story is _not_ about Naruto's and Hinata's sex life, but their realtionship and how it develops in the events that they go through.

All right! enough rambling, ENJOY dammnit!

**

* * *

Chapter 11: My Heart's Lavender Eye**

Tenten slowly opened her eyes, and glared at the roof above her bed, where the loud thumping noise was coming from. She saw across from her Sakura sitting up and rubbing the sleep in her eyes. Tenten slowly sat up as well. "Maybe we could force them to the other side of the village."

Sakura shook her head, "Can't do that sadly, we're his bodyguards, remember?" Sakura frowned at the ceiling as well though, "But he doesn't have to blast it so loud! I don't know how Hinata deals with being woken up by that music."

Tenten grinned to herself, "I'd deal with it if _I_ got to see him dance in his boxers every morning." Tenten sighed, "I swear, if you ask me, Hinata has got all the luck."

Sakura crossed her arms ad stuck out her lip, "He doesn't have to blast it so loud though, other people live here to." Sakura flopped back down on her bed, "If it wasn't for the fact that Hinata said she was okay with it, I'd have beaten the snot out of him two months ago." She then buried her head under her pillow in an attempt to block out the deep, vibrating bass.

Tenten sighed and got up to shower and eat some breakfast. She knew better, the entire room was vibrating from the music, Sakura was not going to get any more sleep.

* * *

Neji growled under his breath, _Naruto!_ For the past three months everyone in the tree-house had been awakened by Naruto's 'music', if it could be even called that.

Well, not everyone exactly, Neji was envious of Lee-san's seemingly unlimited amount of energy. He was always the earliest to rise, so that he could go to the dojo and get a head start on the day's training.

Neji slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning hard. He got up and walked over to his kitchenette and started to brew his coffee. Everyone told him he was cranky, more than usual, when he didn't have his morning coffee. Neji activated his Byakugan and stared through the floor boards in the direction the deep thumping of Naruto's subwoofers was coming from. He usually didn't invade other peoples privacy with his bloodlimit. But since Naruto felt the need to invade everyone's privacy with his damn music, then he had no problem using the Byakugan when he was awoken by the blonde ninja's 'Heavy-Metal'.

Neji quickly shut his bloodlimit off. _Does he always have to parade around in his boxers? How can Hinata deal with that?_ Neji poured his coffee, keeping a steady hand on the cup. The counter was vibrating that hard.

* * *

Lee executed a perfect round-house in midair, and was continuing the turn to perform a sweep kick when he lost his balance and landed smack on his rear. His tailbone was bruised, _again_.

Lee was finding it difficult for the past couple of months to train in the mornings. _Does Naruto really have to turn up his music so loud?_ Lee remembered Gai-sensei lecturing him on how loud music could damage his ears and impair his hearing. One of the main reasons he got up so early to train, to try and escape the noise. But even here, at the dojo and a half hour walk from the central tree, Lee could still hear the thumping of Naruto's six-foot tall subwoofers. And it had been distracting him beyond reason.

Lee couldn't figure it out, normally such things as noise and music didn't phase him when he was in the middle of his training. But for some reason the chaotic beat of Naruto's music had been throwing him off balance and causing him to lose his concentration. Lee found himself tapping his foot, or lightly bobbing his head to the beat of the bass, he couldn't help it, even now, nursing his soar rear, he was tapping his foot idly to the distant beat.

Lee worried about Naruto, even if his music was throwing him off balance. Even though Hinata said she was okay with Naruto's 'morning serenade', he couldn't help thinking that Sakura-chan was on the brink of snapping and tearing apart Naruto for disturbing her sleep. Of course he thought that she wouldn't be so tired if she didn't stay up so late every night.

Lee got up again and entered the crane stance… maybe if he tried going _with _the beat of the music…

* * *

Hinata couldn't help but enjoy the music and the sight she had awoken to.

She had fallen in love with the heavy radical beats of heavy metal a long time ago. She loved it nearly as much as Naruto, matter of fact she considered it apart of Naruto's personality, and therefore loved it even more.

She was sitting up in bed now, giggling at the sight before her. Naruto was dancing in his boxers again, which always made her think of some of the things Sakura had told her about, and in turn making her blush. Naruto had gotten better at seeing her blushes lately and usually asked what was wrong. He still didn't understand why she blushed though.

This morning was special though. Instead of playing one of his countless CDs Naruto had hooked up his electric guitar and was playing one of his own songs for her this morning. She recognized it, Naruto had named it 'My Heart's Lavender Eye'. He had named, and composed it for her for their six month anniversary.

She loved it. She supposed other people wouldn't consider rock music suitable for a love song, but she thought it was perfect. The loud noise, the fast beats, and the 'ordered-chaos' reminded her of the raw energy she felt when she and Naruto kissed and held each other, and when he did certain things, such as dancing in his boxers while rocking out to 'My Heart's Lavender Eye'.

She didn't try and be discreet when she was around Naruto-kun anymore, she openly admired the sweat glistening muscles and the swaying hips of her heart's love, even though she blushed until her entire face was red.

Ever since Sakura and Tenten had a nice _long_ talk with her, Hinata had found herself staring at certain parts of Naruto's anatomy that, in the past, she normally would have refrained from looking at out of decency. Namely his thighs, chest, abs, shoulders and more specifically, his ass. She had never called someone's rear an _ass_, but she couldn't help but think of Naruto-kun's butt as a definite, and well-defined ass.

She had also become very conscious of the way she looked over the past several months. Ever since she noticed that one morning that Naruto-kun was definitely staring at her butt, she had asked Sakura about what she should do.

* * *

"Do you not like it when Naruto looks at you?" Sakura frowned, "Cause if so, you should just tell him, even though you said he always looks away as soon as he realizes what he's doing."

Hinata shook her head, she was standing in the middle of one of the bridges with Sakura and Tenten on either side of her. "No, its not that Sakura-chan. I… I kind of like the fact that Naruto was looking at me like that. _No one's_ ever looked at me like…" She couldn't think of a good description.

"…Like a hungry animal? Like he wants to make sweet passionate love to you?" Sakura apparently had no problem thinking of a good description.

Hinata's eyes went wide, and she could feel the blush creep up her neck. "W-well, I-I wouldn't have put it like that exactly, but y-yes, that's the feeling I got."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "And you liked it? Then what's there to complain about? You look great, and he apparently thinks so too."

Hinata stared at her toes and began to twiddle her fingers. Sakura raised an eyebrow, Hinata hadn't done that for awhile now, she must be really nervous about this. "W-well… you see, I noticed he only does that in the morning. I don't know why, sometimes he does it while we're training, but not as often. I figure he's just watching my kicks most of the time."

Tenten giggled uncontrollably from the other side of the room, "I've got an answer for that." At Hinata's questioning look she continued, "He's not watching your kicks girl, he's admiring your legs, and of course he's looking at your butt in the morning! It all has to do with what you wear."

Hinata frowned, confused, "Wha-what do you mean Tenten? I don't think I…"

Tenten answered abruptly, "He's admiring your features because he can _see_ your bod."

Sakura nodded, giggling as well, "When your training you wear those short-shorts Ino gave you right? Naruto _apparently_ finds your legs attractive, and since your not wearing those baggy pants anymore, he can clearly see them. And in he morning I've seen you wear those sweat pants. They um… _cling_ to your butt I guess you could say, so Naruto's got a good view of that too." Sakura stopped giggling and smiled her evil smile, "You want to know how to get him to look at you more in that _certain_ way don't you?"

Hinata took a few moments before nodding her head, embarrassed. No wonder Naruto had liked those shorts the first day he had seen them. She then smiled, excitement brewing inside of her, "H-how, do I do it."

Tenten and Sakura smiled, "First you've _got_ to stop wearing that dreadful coat. Only wear it when its cold, jeez. The shorts, they're good, but I got some tight fitting jeans I'm willing to let you borrow, and…"

* * *

And now she wore clothes that she never would've been seen in outside her house, maybe not even inside with her father there. Her wardrobe now consisted mostly of tight fitting pants and shorts, and revealing shirts. Tenten and Sakura thought she looked great, and because they also wore the same clothes she didn't feel the least bit uncomfortable. Of course all the new clothes she was wearing now were borrowed from both Tenten and Sakura.

When she first wore them, a pair of slim jeans and a lavender spaghetti-strap that exposed her shoulders and a little bit of her belly, she got varying reactions from the guys. Lee-san barely reacted, he just assumed the new clothing was meant for training. When Neji saw her he stumbled and began to cough uncontrollably, he finally commented in a hoarse voice that she looked good, and then quickly strode away towards the dojo. Naruto's was by far the most satisfying.

* * *

She had been walking towards the dojo when she found Naruto-kun in the middle of one of the bridges, leaning against the rail and looking at the sky through the distant leaves. He didn't notice her until she was standing right next to him.

Naruto looked over to find two lavender eyes looking intently into his own. "Hello Hina-… -ta…" Naruto stuttered as he caught sight of what she was wearing. His eyes traveled slowly down her body lingering on her shoulders and hips, his eyes getting wider and wider and his cheeks turning from pink to a deep crimson. Naruto tore his eyes away and tried his hardest to look only at Hinata's eyes. "… uh…"

Hinata blushed and lowered her face, she wasn't expecting such a strong reaction from Naruto-kun. "Sakura-chan and Tenten-chan let me borrow some of their clothes. I figured it would be nice to try something new." Hinata breathed in deeply, "S-so, what do you think?" Hinata raised only her eyes to see Naruto's face, she was trying her hardest to resist twiddling her fingers right then.

Naruto's raised his eyebrows in surprise at the question, and then smiled. "Well… I'm not sure what your father would say, but I think you look awesome!" Naruto blew out his breath, whistling lightly, "I mean… wow…!"

Hinata smiled and looked up into Naruto's face, "Really?" She was beginning to feel warm inside, she didn't think Naruto-kun wouldn't like her clothes, but she was glad all the same that he really did like her new style.

Naruto grinned, he loved it when Hinata smiled like that. He began to scratch the back of his head and blushed slightly, "You look… amazing." He then pulled to her into a warm hug. Now he was very aware of Hinata's exposed shoulders and her bare belly pressed up against him, and his body was responding in the worst possible way, he almost regretted hugging her… almost.

Hinata definitely wasn't regretting it, they hugged and kissed all the time, but she still wished that they did even more. She was finding it difficult to be away from him for any extended period of time. As she rested in his arms she realized he was aware of her more… exposed look, as she felt his body responding to his thoughts. She blushed and could tell that he was about to gently push her away before he lost control, but taking Sakura's advice she gripped him tighter and pressed herself against him. She instantly blushed a deep crimson as she felt Naruto's… arousal, grow against her pelvis.

Naruto felt Hinata-chan press herself against him just as he was about to push her away and spare both of them from the embarrassment. His entire body went stiff as he awaited the inevitable scream or slap. But instead she just hugged him more, running her hands up and down his back. He responded in kind, he could feel his heart beat pounding in his chest like a hammer, and he could feel Hinata-chan's light but fast heart beat against him as well. He didn't know what was going on, but he was suddenly wishing they were back in their room right then, alone and away from prying eyes.

After some time of listening to each other's heartbeats and heavy breathing, they slowly stepped away from each other. They smiled as they blushed and found it difficult to look each other in the eye. When they finally did look each other in the eye they hugged again and kissed, Naruto didn't fully understand what had just happened, but he liked it… a lot.

They held each others hands as they walked to the dojo to train.

* * *

That had been three months ago. Soon after Hinata had started wearing her new clothes Naruto had begun to wake her up in the mornings by playing her favorite rock songs and dancing around in his boxers. They quickly found out that neither of them were embarrassed with seeing the other in their underwear. Matter of fact they both enjoyed seeing each other barely clothed, even though they never admitted it to the other.

They had been at the tree house for over six months now, their sixth month anniversary being just last month. In that time they had grown stronger, in body, mind, soul and most of all in their love. Hinata felt more in love with Naruto than ever before, she wondered sometimes as she lay in her bed, listening to the soft breathing that was Naruto, whether her love for the blue-eyed leaf nin would ever stop growing, or whether she would eventually explode from the amount of care, need and love she felt for him.

And little to her knowledge, Naruto wondered the exact same things.

But for the time being she merely enjoyed herself as she watched the most beautiful thing in her life dance and gyrate in front of her.

Finally, he finished the song and leaned on his guitar as he caught his breath. Dancing around like that every morning should constitute as his work out for the day. He sat down on the end of Hinata's bed as he panted and sweated. Hinata still slept in her own bed, and even though he knew it was probably best at the moment that they didn't sleep under the same covers, part of him, a big part of him, had a hard time not crawling in bed with her in the middle of the night. It wasn't the same anymore when they slept snuggled against each other when they were at his house back in Konoha, or when they shared the same sleeping bag on their two week hike here to the tree-house. He felt that something had changed, not only in him, but in both of them. He could feel a sort of… tension between them, it wasn't bad, but he could tell it was important. And he felt that once that tension snapped some very unexpected things were going to happen, not necessarily anything bad, but _very_ unexpected.

He leaned over and met Hinata halfway in a kiss. He also noticed that the kisses he was giving Hinata were getting slightly deeper and deeper, just as the tension began to grow, so did the length of their kissing. Hinata slipped out of her covers and held him as they kissed, leaning against him. He was tired though and couldn't hold both of them up, and promptly fell on his back on Hinata's bed, bringing her down with him.

The fact that she was on top of him _and_ only in a pair of lavender bra and panties was not aiding him in his battle for self control. He waited until she pulled away first though, which was much longer than he expected, leaving both of them flushed and breathing heavily. Naruto smiled and touched Hinata's face, "I love you."

Hinata smiled, tears always began to brim at her eyes when he told her that he loved her. She was never happier than when he said those three words, not when they were talking, not when they were hugging, not even when they were kissing. She felt she could live off of those words, "I love you too… so much." And found herself being pulled into another kiss.

Naruto forced himself to pull away this time, he felt a little dizzy from the rushes he was starting to get from kissing Hinata lately, "We… we should get dressed, everyone will be wondering where we are if we're late to training." Hinata smiled and got up to dress in the bathroom. Naruto had to close his eyes and do some meditative breathing, he had to resist the need to go and join Hinata in her changing.

* * *

Naruto bent over double, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. It had been another long morning of work-outs and training. He was nearly as fast Lee now, when Lee was wearing his ten kilogram leg weights that is, he was stronger and his endurance had nearly doubled. Neji, Lee, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata had to take turns sparring against him because they would collapse from exhaustion when he still had no problem standing.

Now though after five straight hours of sparring he figured collapsing from exhaustion was a pretty good idea. He was improving greatly in sparring and jutsu dueling, his genjutsu still sucked to hell, but his mastery of weapons was coming close to equaling Tenten. And of course everyone else was improving as well from the constant sparring. Naruto breathed deeply, trying to replenish his oxygen-starved muscles, at least tomorrow was his off-day, he'd be able to spend some time with Hinata in the library or something, maybe he could convince her to ride one of the zip-lines with him…

…probably not.

Sakura and Tenten got up and began to drag Hinata away from the breathless Naruto to go take a bath. Hinata gave Naruto a worried look, she always did that when he went past his limit and she was the only one who knew when he did. He nodded at her, "Go take your bath, I'm fine. I'll see you in a little bit." Hinata frowned but followed Sakura and Tenten anyways. Over the past seven months that they had been together, Naruto and Hinata had become more… _aware_ of the one they loved, she knew when he pushed himself to hard and when he lied about it. Naruto chuckled hoarsely, by now she could probably tell when he lied about anything.

Naruto got up and started heading to the men's baths, when Neji called out. "Naruto!… um, there's a couple of moves I need to go over with you."

Naruto turned around, confusion plain on his face. They had already done their sparring review while he was trying to catch his breath, Naruto noticed everyone else had stopped as well wondering what Neji wanted to go over.

Neji gave Naruto an intense look, trying his hardest to not look towards the girls, "There's some moves that I… uh, believe I performed poorly. I need you to help me go over them, in _private_ if you don't mind."

Naruto shook his head, "But didn't we already go over everything we did wrong?" Besides Neji always did everything perfectly, no flaws in his techniques ever, what the hell was he talking about?

Lee and the girls also wore the same confused looks as Naruto. Neji though gave a sharp jerk of his head towards the training mats, "If you don't mind Naruto?"

Naruto was still confused, "Why did you jerk your head like that? There something you want to tell me?"

Neji rolled his eyes and looked to the heavens, no matter how much he had improved in body and in intelligence Naruto was still failed in one aspect of the mind. He was utterly clueless when it came to social etiquette. "Naruto, just get your dumbass over here now!"

Naruto shrugged and waved over his shoulder at Hinata, "See you after I'm done with my bath!" and then proceeded to jog over to Neji. The others slowly left the dojo to soak themselves in the glorious heat of the bath water, all the time wandering what was up with Neji.

Naruto stood facing Neji and waited until everyone was out of the dojo, "Okay, I think I get it now that you didn't want to go over some moves that you never messed up on, right?"

Neji slapped himself in the face, covering his eyes and waiting until the count of ten to open his mouth. "No Naruto, I wanted to talk to you in private."

Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise, "Didn't think you were the one to tell secrets Neji. So… what is it?"

Neji took a deep breath, "Remember that day when we, uh, spied on the um… girls?"

Naruto nodded blushing slightly and scratching the back of his head. "Yeah I remember, _very _well."

Neji blushed as well, "Well, you convinced me to do it by mentioning… by mentioning Tenten. How did you know that it would convince me?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know, it was sort of obvious I guess."

Neji gave a confused look, "What do you mean it was obvious. I mean, _what_ was obvious?" Neji really was confused, what was Naruto talking about? How was anything obvious to Naruto, wasn't he supposed to be the clueless one? But right at that moment Neji felt like the clueless one.

Naruto grinned at his comrade's confusion, "Well, I noticed that while we trained for the first week that you wouldn't stop watching Tenten when she was on the mats. And I guess when I really thought about it, I guess I looked the same as you when I looked at Hinata. I could see it in your eyes man, it was obvious for anyone who already knew what it looked like, cause I did, I see it in Hinata's eyes everyday when she looks at me."

Neji was starting to feel anxious, "But _what _was obvious Naruto?"

It was true, Neji felt something he had never felt before when he looked at Tenten. It was close to another feeling, the feeling he had for his father and the rest of his family, but it was different. He could tell he felt some sort of attachment towards Tenten, he could even guess at what it was, but he couldn't admit it to himself, it was as if he _needed_ Naruto to tell him what it was, "Naruto, tell me, please."

Naruto smiled "That you're in love with her man… that you're in love with her."

Naruto gave Neji a slap on the shoulder and turned to head for the door. Halfway there he stopped and looked over his shoulder, "If I were you Neji, I'd tell her as soon as possible… before she stops looking at you the same way you look at her." Naruto proceeded to the baths, leaving a very stunned and very dizzy Neji behind him.

* * *

It had been three days since Naruto had forced Neji to confront his feelings.

Neji couldn't sleep, he kept mulling over what he felt inside his head, he couldn't help it, now that he knew he was in love he felt that he had to tell her. And Naruto had made it sound like she felt the same way. That was absurd though, girls stayed away from him for a reason, he was cold and devoid of feeling, at least he tried his hardest to make it seem that way.

In clan life, the branch family was sworn to protect the main family, sworn to give not only their lives, but their entire being over to the main family. All for the clan. Neji realized after his father died that he had to be cold, he had to be ruthless, and he had to make sure that his feelings didn't get in the way, so when the day came he could give his life for the good of the clan. For he would never escape his fate, there was nothing he could do about it.

Now of course he didn't think that way anymore, thanks to Naruto. Naruto, who touched everyone's lives around him, and made everyone he met want to be better, stronger, and more true not only to others but to themselves. Neji felt like that the day he fought Naruto and was beaten, through sheer force of will Naruto won that match, changed his fate, and Neji's as well.

Neji started to relax and became more involved with his teammate's lives, and with his family's lives. He no longer spent everyday, all day training to serve the main family, but began to spend more time with people. He even went to a few parties that Tenten and Lee convinced him to go to. Strangely, dancing wildly to music with a hundred other people around him was actually quite fun. He hadn't had fun in such along time. And so as three years passed while Naruto was on his training trip with Jaraiya, Neji found himself feeling emotions that he couldn't figure out.

Especially when it had to deal with Tenten.

And because of Naruto once again, he was able to find a piece of the puzzle. Now all he had to do was tell Tenten what that puzzle-piece meant.

This was going to be harder than he thought.

Neji knew he had to tell her, tonight, or else he never would, for he never knew he would have to work up the courage to do something before. He couldn't understand it, it wasn't like he was entering a life threatening situation, or standing trial for breaking clan law, but no matter how hard he tried, he could feel his knees shaking when he thought about telling Tenten. All he was going to do was tell her how he felt and then tell her that he would make sure that his feelings for her would not get in the way of their professional relationship as teammates and ultimately their relationship as friends. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out how he felt such a strong emotion when he thought about doing something that was supposed to be so simple, for what he felt was fear. He didn't know what he feared, but he was afraid to tell Tenten what he felt, afraid that something would happen… or maybe it was because something wouldn't happen.

Neji took a deep breath and took a look at himself in the bathroom mirror. It was nighttime, around midnight, this was usually when Tenten went on her midnight stroll after grabbing a snack from the common room kitchen. Nights when Neji found it difficult to sleep and went on his own midnight strolls he would sometimes see her standing in the middle of one of the bridges, the only one that allowed a clear view of the night sky.

Neji shook himself and dressed himself in a robe and pajama bottoms, no need to make this formal, he was going to be calm and casual about it. But as he quietly closed the door behind him, he didn't feel so calm and casual.

It took him about an hour to walk to the bridge he remembered seeing Tenten at. It was a warm summer night, and light breeze blew through the tree branches, making the temperature pleasantly comfortable. As he drew closer to his destination though, Neji could feel a pit begin to open in his chest, and the fear began to seep in. He stomped on the fear as he would a snake, forcing it back into the bottomless pit, the pit, to his dismay, remained though.

Finally he could see the bridge not too far away, but he couldn't see anyone on it. He was instantly filled with disappointment and joy. Joy at not having to tell Tenten, and disappointment that he would never tell her.

He continued towards it though and as he rounded a branch and came to the branch he could see her leaning with her back to the rail, looking up at the star filled sky, a half-eaten twinkie in her hand. Neji had never seen anything so beautiful in his life, even the pastry she held in her hand he found… cute.

He felt the fear nearly overwhelm him, causing cold sweat to trickle down his back. He was about to turn and go back to his room, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't take his eyes away from the sight before him. He steeled himself against the fear, and before he knew it he was walking towards his worst fear and the embodiment of all his dreams.

She didn't notice until he was standing right next to her. When she looked over her eyes went wide and she dropped her twinkie "Kyaaaaaaa!" Neji stumbled backwards putting up his arm as he expected her to try and slap him. But no slap came instead when he opened his eyes he saw a confused and stunned Tenten in front of him. "Neji-kun? S-sorry!"

Neji lowered his arm and stood up straight, "Its okay, I didn't expect you to scream when you saw me."

Tenten shook her head, she had just been thinking about him, and when she noticed some movement next to her there he was, as if he had appeared there by magic. "Wha-what are you doing here? I didn't know you walked at night too."

Neji shook his head "I usually don't."

Tenten frowned, she realized that Neji hadn't taken his eyes off of her the entire time, she felt her heart skip a beat. No, she wouldn't allow herself to imagine something so childish. "Then, why _are _you here Neji-kun?"

Neji shrugged, "There was something I needed to talk to you about." There, now there was no escaping from it.

Tenten felt her heart skip again. No, no, no! she wasn't going to do this, she wasn't a child anymore, Neji was just a friend, he would always be just a friend. "W-what did you want to talk about?"

Neji breathed in very deeply and opened his mouth "I…" nothing else would come out, "I…" panic began to overtake him. The fear was too strong. He couldn't bring himself to say three simple words, what the hell was wrong with him! Neji looked at the ground and shook while he clenched his fists, he couldn't believe it! He couldn't bring himself to say three simple words to his own teammate!

Tenten frowned in worry, "Neji-kun? What's wrong?" She slowly reached out towards him but stopped halfway. She had never made physical contact with Neji except during training or on accident. Neji's silence made up her mind for her though, she touched his arm gently, "Neji?"

Neji felt something miraculous happen, goose-bumps raced from the spot Tenten touched to cover his entire body, and he was filled with a cool warmth that chased the fear back into the pit that was welling up inside of him. And then it even chased the pit away.

He looked up slowly, he had to tell her now for he suddenly realized why he was so scared of this moment. This was important, this feeling, this love he felt for Tenten was more important to him than his life, or even the Hyuuga clan. This feeling he felt for this girl was the most important thing in his life, and ultimately, therefore Tenten was the most important thing in his life. He had to let her know, even though she didn't feel the same.

Neji looked intensely into Tenten's eyes, "What I'm about to tell you Tenten is… very important, at least to me. I understand you don't feel the same way about it, so I just want to let you know that I won't let it get in the way of our training or our friendship."

Tenten couldn't help it now, her heart had sped up to a pace that it felt like a bird was trying to get out of her chest. _Could he? No! He couldn't! But what if…?_ Tenten held her breath, she had faced dangers beyond count after becoming a jounin, and all of them were with Neji by her side. But this, this was far more, she felt anxiety, fear, anticipation, and a little bit dizzy. She held her breath and waited.

Neji breathed in and let the breath out slowly, he couldn't turn back now that he had said all of that. Without thinking he took Tenten's hand in both of his, holding it as if he would kiss it at any moment, he wanted too. He could see Tenten freeze, he hoped she didn't hate him after this. "Tenten I…

…I Love You."

Tenten went numb, the world around her ceased to exist, the only thing real to her was Neji's hands holding hers and his voice ringing in her ears. _I Love You._

Neji frowned, worried, "Tenten? Tenten? Tenten can you hear me? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean it to end up this way! I promise I won't let this get in the way of our… umph!"

Neji suddenly found himself pulled towards Tenten, her arms around his neck, one hand pressed against the back of his head. It took him a moment to realize that her lips were pressed against his.

He didn't think, he couldn't think, he felt himself kiss her back, he felt himself deepen the kiss, he didn't know why but he pressed his tongue against her lips and soon felt her tongue as well.

Tenten felt drunk, she couldn't tell how much time was going by, her entire focus was on the feel of Neji's lips and tongue, the touch of his hands as they rubbed her back. Part of her subconscious wondered at how insane she was to jump in and kiss him, the other part thought about the fact that she was being kissed back.

She could feel her breathing deepen, she could feel her entire length pressed against him, she became aware of the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed against her, of the deep echo in her head that was _his_ heart. She felt hot, and alive, like she had electricity dancing across her skin where ever he touched her.

Neji couldn't tell what was going on, besides the fact that she was pressed against him and he was kissing her with a passion that he never knew he had. Now he understood how Naruto felt about Hinata. He could feel his emotions surge wildly like an uncontrollable wave, he could feel control slowly slipping away from him.

After what seemed forever, Neji slowly drew away from Tenten feeling his lips slightly stick to hers. Her eyes were half-closed, and she was breathing deeply. He felt drunk, like his knees would give at any moment. It took them both a moment before they were clear enough to see that Tenten had somehow removed Neji's robe leaving him bare-chested, and Neji unknowingly had pulled Tenten's shirt over her breasts, luckily she was wearing a sports bra.

Tenten was still breathing heavily when she realized their state, "I-I'm sorry Neji, I didn't mean too…" This time she found herself being kissed by Neji.

After a long moment they pulled away from each other, and this time found themselves on the ground, Neji on top and Tenten's shirt fully removed. Neji pushed himself up so that he was supporting himself with his arms and looking down at Tenten, "S-sorry… I just…"

Tenten pulled Neji down to her, but instead of kissing him, she hugged him, Neji held her back, feeling her warmth against him, making the warm night air feel cold. "Neji? Do you… do you really love me?"

Neji couldn't help but feel himself overwhelmed by the amount of emotion in that simple question, he held her tighter to him, "Yes.. yes I do, with all my heart Tenten. More than anything in my life, I love you. And if you don't feel the same way…"

"What are you talking about!" Neji heard her voice, but it held no anger, "Of course I feel the same way, I love you Neji, I've been loving you so much and so long that I thought I would eventually die if I never got around to telling you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, I trust no one more than you, I knew these things when we went on our very first mission."

Neji couldn't help but chuckle, "You mean when we helped that old woman cross a busy street?" he laughed but he couldn't help but feel his new found emotion overflow and fill him to the brim, this is what he had been wanting all his life.

Tenten laughed too "Yes! Ever since that day, when I saw how serious you were, how confident you were, I just fell for you. I always knew you never really believed in that fate stuff, and because you were in the branch family I thought I had a chance. A small one, but still, a chance."

Neji smiled and looked into those deep brown eyes, eyes that, when struck by moonlight, glowed a vivid deep green. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen, he wanted nothing else in the world. He bent down and kissed her lightly, a mere brushing of lips. "Tenten… I want to spend my life with you too."

Tenten smiled, and could feel tears begin to run down her cheeks. She had never felt so happy in her life, she was happy to have him as a teammate, she was joyous when he finally called himself her friend, and she was thankful that she was able to spend everyday with him. But this was more than she could chew, she just let herself breakdown.

Neji bent down and slowly kissed the tears from her cheeks, Tenten tightened her grip on him, as if she were afraid he would disappear. Neji felt something come over him, he didn't have to really think about it, because deep down inside of him he knew it was right, that it was meant to be. Neji breathed softly into Tenten's ear.

"Marry me."

Tenten slowly pulled away from Neji so she could look him in the eyes, she was stunned to say the least. "You mean it?" Tenten couldn't believe what she just heard, it wasn't as if she didn't want this though, "But we _just _found out that we're in love with each other. Don't you think you should wait to see that it will work out before asking that?"

Neji smiled, "If we're really in love then there shouldn't be a question of when the right time is should there?" Neji nodded his head, "I understand if you think its too soon, if you want to wait…"

"NO!" Neji looked at her in surprise, causing her to blush, "No, its just… are you sure?"

Neji looked intensely into her eyes, "Are _you _sure?" Neji slowly kissed her, "Why wait Tenten? I already know I want to spend my life with you, I realize that now."

Tenten looked into his eyes, searchingly, reading his emotions, _He really is serious!_ Tenten could feel her self being overwhelmed, there was only one answer to this question.

Tenten held his face in both of her hands.

"Yes."

Neji smiled, relieved, "Really!"

Tenten nodded "Yes! Yes,yes,yes,yes!" she held him to her as they began to laugh. She was wrong, _this_ was the happiest she had ever felt in her life. And of course, Neji had never felt such happiness, he had found the person he had always loved for he fell in love with her the exact same day, he just hadn't realized it, and now they would be together, forever.

* * *

They somehow found there way back to the central tree, but as Tenten was about to say goodnight to Neji and head to her room, but instead she found herself being carried up the ramp that wound its way around the tree, up to Neji's room. She soon found herself curled against Neji's chest, listening to the peaceful rhythm of his heart.

Neji's voice sounded softly in the dark, "Goodnight my love."

Tenten smiled warmly in the dark, "Goodnight… my love." It looked like Sakura-chan was going to lose her roommate.

She'd understand.

* * *

There ya go, end of chapter 11! I know, its mushy, and obviously when Neji is around Tenten he is a completely different person. But eh, thats to be expected, he just discovered what its like to be deeply in love after all.

Chapter 12 preview: Hiashi has a BIG secret, it involves Hinata, Tsunade is pissed, and Sasuke may have gone insane, just wait until next time! Same Naruto time, same Naruto channel!

p.s. Give me your goddamn reviews! or I shall devour your souls!


	12. Secrets and Confessions

Thank you all for the reviews, you make me happy, and those of you who live nearby, thanks for welcoming me into this wonderful state of fire ants, may the jello-god destroy them all. i just might convert to jelloism, I love jello for: "There is always room for Jello!"

Alright, there is fluff in this chapter, but of course there will always will be, but not too much I hope. The plot continues! lots of nasty little secrets that only I know the full details of, Muahahaha! See if you can guess any! Oh what twisted webs we weave! or at least I weave anyways.

Oh and thank you to those who showed appreciation for my premarital sex explanaition, I just wanted you to understand that even though there will be _extrememly_ graphic scenes in the near future (what can I say? I like detail.) that it will only be occasional, and not all the time, the story shall continue!

Enjoy!**

* * *

**

**Chapter 12: Secrets and Confessions**

"What the HELL is this Hiashi! What in the great green fucking world is this!" Tsunade was to say the least, furious. It had been a long time since Hatake Kakashi had seen the Godaime this angry. The last time was when Tsunade's older apprentice, Shizune, had almost died when Kakashi, Tsunade and Shizune were ambushed by a group of sound nins while on their way to a diplomatic conference with the Hidden Sand Village. That was nearly three years ago.

Kakashi had never seen such utter destruction than on that day, when Shizune had been pummeled by kunai daggers so that she resembled a pincushion, Tsunade just exploded. Apparently the ambushing ninjas had thought Shizune was Tsunade, Tsunade had changed her form again to that of a young girl and the sound nins had just witnessed Shizune curing a minor wound Kakashi had sustained from a tussle with a marauding grizzly bear earlier that day.

Kakashi remembered walking among the thirty or so bodies of the sound jounin, and the three elite jounin. They never stood a chance, Kakashi and the rest of the elite guard had done nothing, they had just watched as the fifth Hokage laid waste to the surrounding countryside. It was like walking through a post-apocalyptic world, craters were scattered randomly around the caravan, and fires erupted out of the ground, seemingly out of nowhere, spilling black smoke into the air so that it was as dark as night. Kakashi wasn't easily scared, but to tell the truth, he had come close to shitting himself that day.

And now in front of him he feared he was going to relive that day all over again.

Tsunade had already over-turned and destroyed her desk, and had smashed her chair against the wall, trying to hit Hyuuga Hiashi with it.

Tsunade slapped the documents she held in her hand, "What the FUCK is the meaning of this Hiashi! I demand an explanation, NOW!" Tsunade was breathing heavily, her tendons and veins stood out in her neck and her face turned a bright scarlet every time she screamed, which for the past five minutes seemed to be more often than not.

Hiashi gestured towards the documents, "Everything is explained in there Hokage-sama, you have already read it several times now." Hiashi on the other hand was as cool as ice, if he was angry it was only shone in the glare of disdain he directed towards Tsunade and Kakashi.

Kakashi thought that if he had just revealed what Hiashi had told the Hokage, he'd have run as fast and far away as possible, and he wouldn't have stopped running, ever.

Tsunade's face started to turn purple, "That is NOT what I meant Hiashi! I want an explanation why this was never revealed to me, or any of the other Hokages for that matter!"

Hiashi merely raised an eyebrow, "I assumed it was apparent in the documents I handed to you." Hiashi breathed in deeply and frowned, the first outward sign of anger he had given this entire time, "Now, I wish for my requests to be met, immediately. I want my daughter returned _now_, the sooner she is away from that hooligan Uzumaki the better. You must agree with me after showing you this."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes, and whispered softly, "_Excuse_ me?" it sounded as if her words dripped acid from the way she spoke.

Hiashi glared, "I have been requesting my daughter's return ever since you sent her off to protect that worthless piece of trash! No matter how I asked or approached the subject the answer was always the same! Do you understand how long it took me? How hard it was for me to reveal this to you? Now you have no choice, Hinata must come home _now_!"

Tsunade clenched her fists by her sides and began to shake from the tension in her muscles, "You son of a bitch! I don't fucking care what _you _want anymore! You have never cared for Hinata the same way you cared for Hanabi, and now I know why! How could you, you sick BASTARD! Your entire family is sick! How could your clan do this and keep it from the Hokages? Your clan has put this entire nation at risk because of your stupid pride and unwillingness to let anyone else help! This is unforgivable!" Tsunade took a deep, shaky breath, "So after treating your daughter like this, how the HELL do you expect me to care for _your _wishes?"

Hiashi was finally past staying calm, he began to yell as well, "I do not care how unforgivable it is! And I do not care if you respect my wishes! This is for Hinata's own good, she can not, under any circumstances stay near that brat for any extended amount of time! You _have _to return her! You have no choice!"

Tsunade grinned evilly, "Really? Well guess what, I _am_ thinking about Hinata's own good, and she stays! She is better of with Naruto than anywhere else. I don't care what the risk is, to tell you the truth I think things have a better chance of turning out for the better if she is with him. She is in love with him, and he loves her just as much if not more! If she is safe anywhere, its with him. So she stays! That's my final answer Hiashi!"

Hiashi's eyes had been getting wider and wider as Tsunade yelled her decision at him, so much that Kakashi wondered how they stayed in his sockets. "You… FOOL! Do you have any idea what your doing! You can not allow her to stay with that… that Monster! If she is with him too long she and everyone around her is at risk!"

Kakashi began to edge towards the door, _no_ one called Tsunade-sama a fool, no one.

Tsunade clenched her fists so tightly that blood began to drip from her fists as she stalked towards Hiashi, murder reflected in her eyes. Her rage was so great that her chakra jewel on her forehead activated and glowing purple lines began to curl their way across her face. She looked like a demon that was about to kill something.

Maybe she was.

Even Hiashi who had been so brave before, found himself backing up until he hit the wall and Tsunade was a mere three inches from his face. She whispered in a way that made Kakashi's skin goosebump all over. "How _dare _you call _Naruto _a monster, and If you _ever_ call me a fool like that again Hiashi, I don't care if you're the head of the most powerful house in Konoha, I _will_ kill you. Now get your disgusting face out of my sight before I change my mind." Tsunade said the last few words through gritted teeth.

For a moment it seemed Hiashi would disobey a direct order and stay, but after what seemed like a moment of eternity to Kakashi, Hiashi gathered himself, and walked stiffly from the room. A little more quickly than usual Kakashi noticed.

As soon as the door closed, Tsunade let out a long sigh and collapsed. As one Shizune and Jaraiya appeared seemingly out of nowhere and helped Kakashi put her in one of the unbroken chairs. Shizune got to work healing the wounds Tsunade had caused to her palms when she clenched her fists. Jaraiya stood off to the side leafing through the documents Tsunade had dropped while Kakashi waited patiently, thinking of how this could impact Konoha, the fire nation and ultimately Naruto and Hinata.

Jaraiya sighed, "This doesn't look good Tsunade. Are you sure about leaving Hinata with Naruto? I heard about what happened in the hospital during the chuunin exams, when Hinata almost died. This could be bad, we have no idea what could happen."

Tsunade nodded, "Yes, I'm sure about this Jaraiya."

Kakashi and the others gave surprised expressions at her adamant answer, Kakashi was the one to ask though, "Why?"

Tsunade smiled slightly as her eyes became distant, remembering a pleasant memory, suddenly her eyes focused on Kakashi, "Tell me Kakashi, do you trust him? Do you trust Naruto? Even when he was still a bumbling rookie genin with a loud mouth, would you have trusted him in the most dangerous of situations?"

Kakashi thought about that for a moment, remembering his fight with the rogue-nins Zabuza and Haku. He remembered how Naruto fought that day. "Yes, I'd trust him with my life."

Jaraiya nodded, "I obviously trust him, I've been trusting him in dangerous situations for the past three years." It was true, the blue-eyed boy had a special way about him, he literally overflowed with confidence, he had enough confidence for everyone he met. And because of that he made everyone he met want to be better than they were, to try harder and become stronger.

Tsunade smiled, "He's the most trustworthy person that we know, isn't he?" she waited as each and everyone of them nodded their heads in agreement. "And so I trust him with this, cause if things do happen for the worse I trust him with handling it. Hinata could not ask to be in better hands."

Kakashi chuckled, "You're right, if Hinata could be anywhere if things went wrong, I'd want her with Naruto, and I'm pretty sure if she knew she'd agree as well."

Tsunade closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, Shizune spoke up, "You did the right thing Tsunade-sama." Tsunade nodded, truthfully she was feeling a whole lot better now that she had gotten done with her screaming rampage.

Tsunade turned to Kakashi and Jaraiya, "Its been six months, you two should go and visit them, see how they're doing, especially Naruto and Hinata. And Jaraiya, after this sudden information from our _beloved_ Hiashi, I would like you to check on them at least once a month from now on, please. Oh and this is not to be mentioned to _anyone_, especially not Naruto or Hinata, understand?" Jaraiya and Kakashi nodded and both men turned as one to head out the door.

"Jaraiya wait!" Tsunade dove toward her smashed desk and began to rummage through the splintered oak. Tsunade finally found what she was looking for, a manila folder, and tossed it to Jaraiya, "Give that to Naruto when you see him, its some valuable information for him."

Jaraiya smiled, "Found some more stuffy documents in the archives again?" he laughed as he and Kakashi left the room.

Shizune frowned, "Should we arrest Hiashi and anyone else from withholding such vital information from the Hokages? I personally think he deserves to stand trial and rot in prison for the rest of his life for what he did to his own daughter, and especially how he treated her afterwards."

Tsunade shook her head, "Can't. If I do the rest of the village will want to know why. And I can't lie, because nothing but the absolute truth will be accepted as the reason for his arrest. I can't let her go through that Shizune." Tsunade paused, searching for the right words, "I can't let her go through what Naruto went through his entire life… Naruto would never forgive me."

Shizune nodded solemnly in agreement, "Your right. Luckily, she has Naruto by her side though."

* * *

Duseto screamed, his entire body was in pain, he felt as if he was having his skin repeatedly stripped from his body. This was far worse than the first time, next to him Zeek was curled in the fetal position, whimpering, but Duseto noticed nothing but his own pain. His pain was his world, his universe and his entire being. 

Normally he and Zeek would've been allowed to gestate in a special containment Fuuinjutsu performed by at least four other elite jounin. But this wasn't a reward as it usually was meant to be, this was punishment. He and his apprentices Zeek, Pulse and Scream had failed in their mission to kill Uzumaki Naruto. They were not given a reason why for his assassination, just that it was of the utmost importance to their master's plans. He and Zeek were the only ones left from their first try, Duseto was given one more chance to prove his worthiness to Orochimaru-sama.

Duseto sent the blade twins and another jounin who could listen to foot-steps from miles away through the ground to track down Uzumaki when he left the Leaf Village. He found them dead, one with a hole in his chest, one with his throat crushed and the other with such a mangled face that he couldn't recognize him. Duseto had no choice but to return with his failure.

Now he lay here, going through a process that only a small percentage survived without the proper techniques. If he and Zeek died, they would be properly punished. If they survived they would have been punished from the extreme amount of pain _and_ would become invaluable tools to their master. At the moment though, neither Duseto or Zeek were able to think of such things, the pain filled their minds to overflowing.

Uchiha Sasuke laughed to himself. If these two fools died than he would be simply rid of what would be more weaklings. But if they survived, he would be able to train them and add them to his ranks. He would defeat his brother someday in single combat, and the more sacrifices he had, the better.

First though, he had two obstacles in his way, Uzumaki Naruto, and his own master Orochimaru. If he was not strong enough to escape Orochimaru's bonds and defeat him he would never be able to defeat his brother. And Uzumaki Naruto was the first real stepping stone to achieving that goal.

Sasuke stepped away from the door that contained the two screaming men behind it and began to walk down the hallway of the dungeon back to his personal training chambers, lost in his own dark thoughts. He smiled to himself as he thought about defeating Uzumaki Naruto, and then quickly became somber, almost sad as he his eyes glazed over, remembering a seemingly distant past. "I will see you soon, my old friend."

* * *

"Oh my GOD! You're getting MARRIED!" 

Sakura quite literally tackled Tenten to the ground, "I can't believe it! My Tenten is getting married!" Sakura loosened her grip, realizing that she had been suffocating Tenten.

Hinata also couldn't help but come over and give Tenten a hug, after she was able to stand again of course. "I am so happy for you Tenten-chan! I am sure you and Neji will have a happy future."

Tenten blushed, toeing the ground in front of her, "Thanks Hinata-chan, that means a lot, really." Tenten hugged both Sakura and Hinata, she couldn't remember being more happy… oh wait, yeah she could, maybe last night, when Neji declared his love for her _and _asked her to marry him within the space of an hour, maybe that would ring some bells. Tenten pulled away from both of the squealing girls. "He already gave me a ring!"

Sakura's eyes bugged, "No way! How the hell could he get a ring already, its more than a five hour hike to the nearest village! Not to mention the fact that that dinky little thorp would have any jewelry is kinda unbelievable."

Tenten held out her hand, revealing a solid gold band, "It belonged to Neji's mother, he's wearing his father's. They're not your typical diamond studded engagement ring, but to us they mean so much more. We're going to get our own pair of wedding rings when we get married, even then we promised each other to keep these."

Hinata and Sakura both leaned in to get a better look at the shining gold encircling Tenten's finger. Hinata couldn't help but wonder if Naruto would get _her_ an engagement ring. She could only hope. "Tenten, its so beautiful, that must of meant a lot to Neji giving this to you."

"It's awesome!" Sakura couldn't help but feel extremely giddy about this entire situation, "Now we need to some serious planning sister." Sakura began to drag a befuddled Tenten back into the common room, "We need to plan out a color scheme, personally I like pink, but baby blue would be nice too, and when did you say you too were going to have the wedding? Oh! And we need to do the invitations, the catering, the works! I mean Neji's family is rich right? I think…"

Hinata giggled to herself, Sakura was definitely enjoying herself, but before she could allow herself to join in the fun she had someone she needed to talk too.

* * *

Neji stood in the middle of one of the bridges, leaning with his elbows on the carved railings, looking at the small patch of sky that showed through the leaves. He never realized how beautiful a simple day could really be, he felt at peace, with Tenten, the world, and ultimately himself. He couldn't remember the last time he was so… happy. He had to allow Tenten some time with the girls, to give them the news and enjoy some revelry. But even now he wanted to run to her, scoop her up in his arms and lock her in his room with him, he got the feeling she probably wouldn't have minded that. 

He watched as a redwood leaf fell from a branch above him, slowly twisting as it descended. It was a the dark green that only came with late summer, the very same color Tenten's eyes became when moonlight reflected off of them. The leaf fell so that it landed in his hair and stuck, Neji smiled to himself and left it there, continuing to watch the clouds lazily drift by the patch of sky.

"Neji-niisan?"

Neji turned to see Hinata walking towards him, he gave her a warm smile. Apparently Hinata was startled by his reaction because she paused with a surprised look on her face before smiling herself and continuing until she was standing next to him. He supposed he hadn't smiled very much in his lifetime, especially so warmly. "Hinata, what brings you here? Did Tenten talk to you yet?"

Hinata smiled broadly and hugged Neji, startling him. "I'm so proud of you niisan."

Neji smiled and hugged her back, "Thank you Hinata. But I couldn't have done it, or even realized it without you."

Hinata pulled away giving him a confused look, "How could I have helped?"

Neji laughed, it was a real laugh, deep and full of mirth, it warmed Hinata to hear it, she had only heard that laugh on very rare occasions. "You don't remember Hinata? In the garden, the one night you came back from training with Naruto, you couldn't sleep and decided to take a walk, I decided to join you."

Remembrance came to Hinata's eyes and she smiled and blushed a little, remembering that night. "You asked me what it was like to love someone."

Neji nodded confirmation, "Exactly, everything you told me, described to me, the way you felt, the things you thought, they were exactly what I felt when I was around Tenten. I guess I knew all the time, but after that night, I finally admitted to myself that I had feelings for Tenten. And then just few days ago, when Naruto made it blunt, telling me that I was in love with her. It was because of both of you that I was able to realize that I wanted, _needed_ Tenten, and that I wanted to marry her. Thank you Hinata, thank you for everything."

Hinata gave Neji a big hug, "You are so welcome niisan. And I am so happy for you."

Neji let go and held Hinata's face in his hands, "Don't worry, I've come to trust your Naruto-kun, he'll be asking you soon as well." He then gave Hinata a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek and then started jogging towards the central tree and the common room, "Now if you'll excuse me, I feel the need to see my fiancé!"

Hinata could only stand and stare into space, thinking about what Neji told her. Would Naruto? And how soon? Either way she couldn't help but feel giddy about the idea, she suddenly felt the need to see the love of her life as well.

* * *

There was a big party that night in the common room, big for six people. Movies were played on the widescreen, a snack table was set out and Naruto played his rock music, playing a very special version of 'My Heart's Lavender Eye' for Neji and Tenten. There was even a cake, which Naruto had helped the girls with, it ended up slightly lopsided and with a large amount of orange and pink frosting battling for supremacy of the cake surface. 

Lee set up the karaoke machine, having everyone sing a few songs together, ending with Neji singing 'I must be Dreaming' to Tenten. Tenten couldn't control herself and began to cry and danced with Neji as he sang. Naruto thought it was a beautiful sight, seeing them dance together like that, so much that he began dancing with Hinata, even Lee and Sakura danced together, it was their one slow song of the night.

It was getting close to midnight when the party started to finally die down.

"Alright everyone I have a surprise for all of us!" Naruto went down stairs to the food storage and reappeared, a bottle of wine in hand.

Sakura stood up and pointed an accusing finger at Naruto "Where did you get that? And besides we're to young to drink Naruto!"

Naruto shrugged, "Jaraiya probably left it, plus its not enough for all of us to get drunk off of anyway. Besides, its Neji-kun's and Tenten-chan's unofficial _engagement_ party. This occasion calls for a toast! Come on Sakura! You know you really want too, remember its for Neji and Tenten."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Fine. Whatever."

Inner Sakura: _"ALCOHOL! WOOT!"_

Tenten passed out some crystal wine glasses she found in storage, while Naruto divided the wine amongst them. They sat for a moment, not knowing what to say. Then Lee suddenly stood up.

Lee held forth his glass, "For a wonderful marriage"

Sakura held forth hers, "For a wonderful future."

Neji and Tenten held out theirs together, "For love."

Hinata held out hers, "For dreams that really do come true."

Naruto stepped forward and held forth his glass, "For the most wonderful friendship, none of us could ask for more."

They all held up their glasses and tapped them together "Here! Here!" and simultaneously downed their drinks.

Naruto and Neji took it well, but none of the girls were apparently not very heavy drinkers and became a little tipsy and began to giggle as they told each other mother and wife jokes. Lee had to be wrestled to the ground by both Naruto and Neji, he suddenly had felt the need to break as many wooden boards with his head as he could before passing out, causing him to run around head first and putting holes into the walls.

Overall, it was probably the most enjoyable party any of them could remember, everyone slept in the common room on the couches. Except for Neji and Tenten, who exited the common room to catcalls, cheers and Naruto tossing a condom to Neji with the advice "Use it well my young padawan, may the chakra be with you." Which earned Naruto a few pillows thrown at his head from the girls.

Hinata had so much fun that night she didn't even realize that she was sleeping curled in Naruto's arms in the same couch.

* * *

"Hey Naruto. Hey wake up. Hey! NARUTO!" 

Naruto jerked upright from his bed, colliding head first with Jaraiya's face. "Agh! Dammnit! What the hell are you doing in my room you pervert! Where's Hinata!"

Jaraiya held his bleeding and probably broken nose, and pointed an accusing finger at Naruto, "She met me at the front door like all the others, she's the one who told me where the hell you were you jerk! And stop calling me a pervert or I'll kick your ass!"

"Oh we wouldn't want that now would we?" Naruto turned to see who had spoken and there stood Kakashi leaning against his doorframe. "Hey Naruto. How're you doing?"

Naruto Jumped out of bed to greet the silver-haired jounin, "Kakashi-sensei! Man have I missed you! How's it at the village?"

Jaraiya managed to stand up and continue pointing his accusing finger. "I train you for three years and show you the way to the tree-house, and you call _him _sensei? All I get from you is pervert, or Ero-sennin, you good for nothing brat!"

Naruto nor Kakashi seemed to hear the old pervert's ranting.

Kakashi smiled and put a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Nice to see you too Naruto. But get dressed first and meet us down in the common room." Naruto nodded and waited until both of the men were out of his room before changing into some black pants and an orange t-shirt with a red spiral on the back. It had been a month since the engagement party, and things had been running normally, except for the fact that Neji and Tenten spent almost every second of the day, and night, together.

Naruto saw everyone was already down in the common room like Jaraiya said and took a seat on the couch next to Hinata. Kakashi stood up and faced everyone, "Jaraiya and I came by to see how all of you were doing, and to bring some essential materials, such as soap and toothpaste, things the local village doesn't have in stock. Oh and I congratulate Neji and Tenten on their engagement, I forgot to do so after you told me, though I don't think Hiashi-sama will appreciate the fact that you're marrying outside of the family though."

Neji shook his head, "I don't really care, I finally understand how Hinata feels now. Hiashi-sama, as much as I respect him, I will not allow him to get in the way of my love life, even if he chooses to end my life."

Tenten gasped and hugged Neji's arm, "He wouldn't do that would he?" Tears were beginning to brim at the corner of her eyes, she understood that the main family had full control whether Neji lived or not due to his forehead seal.

Neji hugged Tenten, "If it comes to that, then I won't let him." Tenten hugged her love tightly and cried into his shoulder, she had just come to grips with the fact that Neji was risking everything for his love for her.

Kakashi shrugged, "To tell you the truth, I don't think Hiashi is going to be doing much right now, he and the Hokage are not getting along at the moment. Due to the fact that he wants Hinata returned and Tsunade-sama is adamant about her decision that you have to be here Hinata."

Hinata frowned and clenched her fists, "That's just like him, always trying to control my life." Everyone else nodded in agreement, they had all met Hiashi-sama at least once and knew how harsh, and disdainful he was of anyone else below him.

Naruto, though, narrowed his eyes at Kakashi and Jaraiya. He had noticed Jaraiya trying to hid his angered reaction when Kakashi told them about the trouble between the Hokage and the Hyuuga clan-head. They were hiding something, he'd have to get them alone later.

Kakashi went an to tell all of them about the going's on in Konoha, how Ichiraku Ramen had increased their store size two-fold and old man Ichiraku had expanded his selection of ramen flavors to over two-hundred. Naruto was pleased with this news and gave Jaraiya a list of all the flavors he wanted him to bring the next time he visited. Kakashi also went on to tell them how, since Hyuuga Hanabi was now the heir, Hiashi was looking for a suitable groom for her, he mentioned the fact that Gai-sensei had nominated Rock Lee for Hanabi's hand in marriage. He was regrettably turned down.

This caused everyone to laugh and make Lee blush from head to toe. Jaraiya gave Lee a big slap on the back causing him to cough, "Don't look so surprised! She's not that young! Give it a couple of years and you'll be chasing her yourself asking her to marry you, or at least sleep with you." Jaraiya got several bowls of cereal in the face, thrown by all the girls.

Naruto turned back to Kakashi, "What about Orochimaru or Itachi? Is there any news on them?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Orochimaru has seemed to have gone quiet after being attacked by Itachi and gaining his new body, maybe he's scared of being attacked again. As for Itachi, we found out that Gaara the Kazekage was kidnapped by the Akutsuki. I and Jaraiya went to the sand village to aid them in recovering Gaara, we were almost too late, but Gaara's life was saved by the grandmother of one of the Akutsuki, and the entire Sand Village ended up coming to rescue him. He says hello Naruto, and Thank You, he said you'd understand. He also said you are welcome in the Hidden Sand at anytime and any length of time."

Naruto nodded and smiled to himself, "Yeah, I understand." Gaara had finally found something to live for. Naruto stood up suddenly full of energy, "Come on Kakashi! Lets head over to the dojo! I'm not going to become the strongest Hokage ever by just standing here!"

As everyone left to show their training to Jaraiya and Kakashi, Hinata thought about how happy she was at Naruto's words, it had been months since he had mentioned anything about being Hokage. Apparently hearing about Gaara made him remember how badly he wanted to achieve his goal of world-wide recognition. Hinata silently swore to herself again that she would make sure he achieved that goal, and she would be by his side the entire time.

* * *

"Very good Naruto! You're getting faster! And your control and technique has greatly improved. I'm impressed, but you still haven't landed a solid blow on me yet!" Kakashi just barely dodged Naruto's fist as it whistled by his face, _maybe I shouldn't speak so soon._

Naruto was panting, the only reason he hated sparring against Kakashi was because no matter how much he improved, Kakashi just made a mockery of him by dodging all of his blows. This time though, Kakashi seemed slower, or maybe it was because Naruto had gotten faster.

Naruto grinned, "You haven't seen anything yet sensei!" Naruto performed several back-flips to put some distance between him and Kakashi and then crouched and lifted his pant legs.

Kakashi's eyes bulged in a rare expression of surprise, "Leg Weights! You've been wearing leg weights this entire time!" Kakashi couldn't believe it, he was just barely dodging Naruto's blows, and the blonde nin was purposely slowing himself down the entire time.

Naruto unstrapped both leg weights and let them drop to the ground. "Now I'm ready sensei, you better use your Sharingan, cause you're going to need it!"

Kakashi nodded his head, if the cracks in the ground caused by Naruto's leg weights told him anything, he definitely needed his Sharingan right then. Kakashi pulled up the left side of his forehead protector revealing the red eye and it's three pinwheels. "Alright Naruto, come at me."

Naruto suddenly disappeared from Kakashi's view in a blur, "Behind you sensei!" Kakashi whirled around to get caught in the face by a fist. There was a puff a smoke and a log appeared where Kakashi's face was supposed to be. Naruto cursed, "Damn!" and looked up in time to get a full view of Kakashi's knee as he dropped on him from above.

Naruto disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Kakashi made contact, "Shit! A Shadow clone!" Kakashi couldn't believe it, Naruto had done the jutsu so fast that the Sharingan wasn't able to follow! "How did you do that Naruto!" Kakashi ducked feeling Naruto's kick hit his hair.

Naruto laughed, "Cause' I did it while I was taking off my leg weights and you still had your Sharingan covered!"

Kakashi was impressed, Naruto was always good at last minute thinking, but now he was showing an amazing capacity for forethought, first the leg weights and then performing the jutsu when he couldn't see it.

Naruto aimed another kick at Kakashi's face, barely missing it, Kakashi was scrambling now, and totally on the defensive. Even with his Sharingan he was having a hard time doing anything about Naruto's speed. Naruto silently reminded himself that he had to thank Shikamaru for that chess book he gave him.

It wasn't too much longer before Kakashi became too tired from his usage of the Sharingan and was kicked it the stomach, sending him flying into the wall. Kakashi had used every trick in the book, using as many escape and illusion jutsus as possible and even a couple of genjutsus, but Naruto fell for none of them, it was like Naruto was predicting all of his moves ahead of time.

Kakashi sat up and held out a hand to Naruto who helped him up, "You really have improved Naruto, that was some excellent use of forethought, you predicted my every move." Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's soldier, "Even an elite sound jounin would have some trouble with you I think."

Naruto smiled, "Chess sensei, any battle can be related to chess, where it is essential to think as far ahead as possible."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, for the life of him he couldn't imagine Naruto studying chess. They limped back together to where everyone else stood and cheered Naruto's victory. They had come to demonstrate their daily training routine, but it ended up with everyone watching a one on one spar between Naruto and Kakashi.

Jaraiya came forth and clapped a hand on Naruto's soldier, "Nice work kid!" He turned to Kakashi, "I think its about time for us to go, the summoned frogs have finished unloading all of their supplies." Kakashi nodded agreement and turned to the door that would bring them back to the common room and the front door. They all followed Kakashi and Jaraiya back to the common room, commenting on Naruto's sparring.

Even Neji congratulated him, "Not bad for a blonde nitwit."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Oh yes Neji, you have become _so caring_ and _heartfelt._ I mean really, your practically bleeding sincerity." Everyone laughed at that, especially Neji.

* * *

Finally they were saying there goodbyes to Jaraiya and Kakashi in the common room. Naruto pulled Kakashi to the side as everyone else said goodbye to Jaraiya. "What are you hiding?" 

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, _a lot of forethought._ "What do you mean?"

Naruto glared at him, "About that bastard Hiashi and Obaa-chan being angry at each other. There's something more to it that your not telling me."

Kakashi sighed, "I wish I could tell you Naruto, but I'm under direct orders from the Godaime to _not _tell you, or anyone else, anything about it." Naruto frowned, it almost seemed that he was going to stick out his lip like he used to when he was only twelve. Kakashi nodded, "Alright, I can't tell you exactly what its about, but I can tell you its about Hinata, and that its serious."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "How serious?"

Kakashi answered grimly, "Serious. But nothing you can't handle, really, I mean that. But I think it would be best right now for you not to mention this to her, you should wait and see how she is doing for a bit first."

Naruto raised both eyebrows, "What is this about exactly? Why shouldn't I tell her yet? And what do you mean I should see how she's doing first?"

Kakashi sighed, "Agh, I can't help it, I _want_ to tell you. Hokage-sama is going to kill me for this. If I tell you this Naruto, you have to promise me something first." Naruto nodded his agreement, "When you decide to tell Hinata about this, You have to tell her about Kyuubi first."

Naruto clenched his jaw, and his fists, his entire body tense, but slowly he nodded his agreement, "...done."

Kakashi nodded, "Alright, wait until you're alone to get out your emotions okay? This is going to piss you off…"

Kakashi took several minutes to whisper it in Naruto's ear. Jaraiya noticed and had to exert himself to keep everyone else's attention away from Kakashi talking to Naruto. If someone is going to know, might as well keep it to only Naruto.

Finally, after several more minutes of goodbyes and farewells, Jaraiya and Kakashi were heading out the door. Before Jaraiya left he handed Naruto a manila folder, which was labeled 'The Uses of the Zenseigan and the Uzumaki Seals'. Naruto quickly found out that he couldn't open it due to a seal on the folder. Jaraiya comforted Naruto, "Don't worry no one else has seen what's inside, apparently you need your blood limit to open it. Good luck!" With that Jaraiya and Kakashi disappeared behind the door and were gone, not before Jaraiya yelled that he'd be back within a month though.

After they left, Naruto turned to head out of the common room, "Hey, I'm going to go take a bath guys." he held up the manila folder, "Um… got some thinking to do I guess."

Hinata came up and gave Naruto a kiss, "I'll see you after your bath then. I'll be waiting."

Naruto grinned, but before going he gave Hinata a long hug, "I love you."

Hinata frowned against Naruto's chest, "I love you too Naruto. Always." She watched as Naruto strode out of the common room. No one else noticed, but she did, something was wrong. She'd have to talk to him about it later though, for right then Tenten collapsed, sobbing. She apparently remembered that Neji might die because they were engaged now.

Neji looked up from comforting Tenten, and watched Naruto disappear out of the common room. He had seen Jaraiya's expression at Kakashi telling them about the feud between Hiashi and Tsunade and he had seen Naruto notice and talk to Kakashi about it before they left. They had been hiding something, and Naruto knew what it was. It had apparently upset him, so it must be serious. Neji frowned and reminded himself he'd have to ask Naruto about it later.

* * *

Naruto sat in the bath, head on his knees, the manila folder on the side and several feet away from him. He was crying, he understood now why Kakashi had told him to tell Hinata about Kyuubi. 

He knew he had to tell Hinata what Kakashi told him, he just didn't know if he could bring himself to tell her about his demon. He feared the consequences, but he knew now that there was no escaping it. He had to tell her, and soon.

Naruto cried… for his sake and for Hinata's.

* * *

Orochimaru gazed upon the two wretched creatures before him, both of them chained to a post. The perfect beasts for tracking down that brat Naruto. They used to be dogs, but he did a little bit of his own altering. 

He looked up as his most hated disciple entered, trailed by the now reborn Duseto and Zeek. "Ah, the wretched brat returns from training my two newest elite jounin. How are they Sasuke?"

Sasuke sneered at the hulking cloaked form that was Orochimaru, "Sufficient."

Orochimaru sneered back, exposing his needle-like teeth, "Good. Very good. You can start tracking that Uzumaki brat down immediately. I know how badly you want to kill him Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke glared, "And I know how badly you want him dead… master. But I do not understand why I have to bring _them_." Sasuke nodded towards the two hulking beasts, with their spiked collars and chains. "If I need to bring extra baggage…" Sasuke nodded towards a small shadow standing behind Orochimaru's chair, "…why can't I bring that weakling Kabuto?"

The shadow stepped forward and in front of Orochimaru, revealing Kabuto, still wearing his glasses as always. "Because dear Sasuke-kun, unlike you, Orochimaru-san _trusts_ me with his life and his health, I must stay by him, for I am his second in command, as you well know, and therefore your superior as well. You will take the Jigokinu because they will be able to track down Naruto-kun's trail, no matter how old it is, and if you fail in killing him, they will easily complete your mission for you. After all, not even you stand a chance against them… Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke sneered, "Yeah like I want to be in your position, sorry, wiping Orochimaru's ass all day everyday doesn't really appeal to me as a position I'd like to take. And I don't care how strong those mutts are, they'll just get in the way, probably end up licking their own balls for the entire day… if they even have any."

Kabuto took a step forward as Sasuke sneered at him, but was stopped by Orochimaru's clawed hand on his shoulder. "No need to fight children. You have no say in this after all Sasuke, you will take Duseto, Zeek _and_ the Jigokinu, and you will leave in the morn'. Do I make myself clear boy?"

Sasuke sneered, and turned around, heading for the door and holding his middle-finger behind his head. "Yeah sure, whatever." Duseto and Zeek followed obediently behind Sasuke.

Before Sasuke exited through the door though he turned around, "I do have one request though… master."

Orochimaru chuckled, a deep wet sound, like a wet rag being dragged across gravel. "Oh Ho, is that so? And what is this request my apprentice." Orochimaru hissed most of his words, sounding more like a snake than he ever did.

Sasuke was suddenly very serious, "Give me permission, master. If Naruto has become any stronger over the past three and a half years I need you to give me permission if I am to beat him."

Orochimaru suddenly stopped laughing, he was very grim and serious now. It was a long moment before he finally answered. "Very well Sasuke, you have my permission, but don't kill yourself in the process if you don't mind, I don't want my future body damaged in anyway."

Sasuke smiled evilly and bowed before leaving the room, "Thank you Master."

Kabuto turned to Orochimaru after Sasuke was out of sight, "Are you sure that was wise Orochimaru-sama? Allowing him to do it? What if he becomes too…?"

Orochimaru held up his hand to silence Kabuto, "I have made my decision, Kabuto. We will allow him to do as he pleases, give him a sense of freedom for awhile, and then, when he least expects it, I will teach him that I _am _his one and only master." Orochimaru began to laugh that disturbing laugh of his.

Kabuto smiled wickedly, "Understood Master." He couldn't help but join Orochimaru in his demented laughter, torturing Sasuke sounded too good to him. He couldn't wait.

The Jigokinu began to howl, a disturbing mournful sound that spelled out dark days to come.

* * *

Woot! And the plot moves forward, lots of cool stuff to happen in the next few chapters, plot stuff and what about Lee's and Sakura's love lives? We'll get to that soon. 

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, if so Review, if not Review anyways. If you don't I will refrain from devouring your souls until the Jello-god smothers you in his gelatin goodness! (**commanderlink** you rock! cough so does everyone else. :)


	13. Big Secret, Bigger Confession

Man! I am loving the reviews guys, you all rock! Oh and just to let you know, I personally hate Hiashi, and I am glad that I am converting all of you to my cause. Muahahaha! Worship me!

...uh, anyway, many of you have come very close to guessing what Hiashi's secret is, but I bet none of you know Sasuke's, don't worry we'll get to that eventually. Anyway for those of who don't know what Jigokinu means, 'inu' which many of you know means 'dog', 'Jigo' is the prefix of 'Jigoku' which means 'Hell'. hence Hell-dog, or Hellhound. You get to find out some more about them at the end of this chapter.

Alright, not a whole lot of action, some fluff, but mostly plot development, is it just me or am I getting a feeling of iminent doom? Must be me. Oh, my first hot scene, hope all you Hentai's like it, but I couldn't go too far...yet. I'm only going to change the stories rating to "M" when the time is right. Hey, I liked it.

So, read my chapter and Enjoy!

**

* * *

Chapter 13: Big Secret, Bigger Confession**

"Have you still not been able to locate his whereabouts?"

Itachi stared at the ring of shadows around him. "No." There was no fear in his voice, no regret, not even amusement. His voice was dead, there was no feeling in his words.

"This is _your_ project Itachi, you and Kisame are responsible for acquiring the jinchuuriki that holds the Kyuubi. Maybe you need to be replaced?"

A low growl emanated from the large man standing next to Itachi. Kisame stepped forward, lifting his chin and exposing his gray skin and shark-like features. "Sure, if anyone wants to fight me for it?"

There was some murmuring from the shapes surrounding Itachi and Kisame.

Itachi put a hand on Kisame's shoulder, "There will be no need for that." Itachi returned his attention to the shadowy figures, "And there is no need to replace us. Our spies tell us of Orochimaru's doings."

"And what does the deserter have to do with Naruto?"

Itachi recognized the voice, it came from his 'leader', in other words the only one more powerful than him. He turned to face the shadow and address him directly. "Orochimaru is hunting down the Uzumaki child in hopes of killing him apparently, no one knows why. Just recently he has sent an advanced tracking party. He has Jigokinu in the tracking party."

There were a lot of fervent whispers at this statement. "How can he have the required materials to make a Jigokinu! If it gets to Uzumaki before you it _will _kill him!"

Itachi stared blankly in the direction of the outburst, "I know this, that's why Kisame and I will follow them and watch. If we feel the need to step in we will do so, if not we will see how their encounter goes."

One of the shadows was apparently whispering something into the 'leader's' ear, he turned to face Itachi. "Even if Naruto somehow survives or you end up interfering, you will watch only. You are not to take Uzumaki until I say so. You will follow where ever he goes, observe him and his actions, jinchuuriki have a tendency to locate other jinchuuriki. Do be careful though, even one of Orochimaru's Jigokinu can be quite a handful."

Itachi bowed his head in acknowledgement, "Very well, we will merely observe. By the way, there are two Jigokinu."

Again there where whispered exclamations of surprise, another voice rang out, "Two! Has Orochimaru gone insane! I don't care if he's able to control them, those beasts are a danger, even to us! They should be exterminated."

The shadow that was their 'leader' chuckled. "And how do you propose to do that? 'They are a danger, even to us' after all. No, I say let Naruto handle them, if he can't defeat them he can at least weaken them so Itachi and Kisame can finish them." He stopped his chuckling and turned back to Itachi, "Go now and follow this tracking party for Naruto. After you confirm his whereabouts I expect you to return and give a complete report of your venture. Dismissed."

As one the shadows dissipated, leaving Itachi and Kisame alone. Kisame grunted, "I'd prefer to just take the brat once we find him. I hate waiting and 'observing', its so annoying."

Itachi turned away and began heading to the exit, "Patience is a virtue Kisame… patience is a virtue."

* * *

Neji's fist connected with Naruto's face with a wet **smack**! Sending the leaf nin rolling across the ground. "Naruto! What the hell are you doing, that's got to be the tenth time you let me hit you! If you were fighting Lee without his leg weights I'd understand, but even with my Byakugan I'm not usually fast enough to hit you. Now what the hell is going on!" 

Naruto dizzily stood up, as he straightened he stuck his hand behind him, warding off the approaching Sakura and Hinata. "I'm fine guys, really." Naruto centered himself and went into his ready stance.

Sakura frowned, "Naruto! Your nose is bleeding and probably broken, and who knows how many other injuries you have from Neji beating the crap out of you!"

Naruto clenched his teeth, "I'm fine."

Lee-san stood up, "She is right comrade, you must be ill for you are not performing well. You may well be injured, I think…"

"I'm fine!" Naruto growled his words.

Hinata frowned worriedly, "Naruto…"

"I said I'm FINE!" Naruto turned back to Neji, "Come on!"

Neji frowned, he didn't know what had gotten into Naruto, but for the past week, ever since Kakashi and Jaraiya came, he had been acting different. He was moody, and could be found constantly brooding silently when not training, and when he was training he pushed himself too hard. About three days ago something had happened, Naruto had kept losing his balance during training, he merely shrugged it off as a bad day. Now three days later it had kept getting worse, Naruto could hardly dodge a punch properly. No one, not even Hinata, knew what was bothering him.

Neji shook his head, "Naruto, I think…"

Naruto glared, "I said come on dammnit!"

Neji glared back, fine if that's the way he wanted it. Neji tensed his muscles and then leapt into the air towards Naruto.

Naruto stared at the incoming missile that was Neji, except he couldn't see him clearly, everything was a blur, and he could hardly concentrate because of the pounding headache he had. Every time he began exerting himself, first the headache would start, then it would get so bad that his vision began to blur, until finally it was like looking through a foggy window. The headache combined with the blurred vision left him unbalanced and unable to move fast enough to dodge or attack. And this morning he realized that he was having problems controlling his chakra.

Now he watched as Neji's blurred form filled his entire vision, Neji was performing a flying kick, except Naruto couldn't see where the foot was located. It caught him fully in the chest, driving the wind out of him like a hammer and knocking him to the ground. Naruto didn't bother getting up, he couldn't see straight, he couldn't think straight, and now he had lost all his breath, his vision was turning black around the edges and he was seeing stars.

Suddenly Hinata's blurry face filled his view, he only recognized her do to the smell of her lavender shampoo that she always used. "Naruto! Naruto wake up! What's wrong?"

Naruto heard no more though, his vision went dark, and he knew no more.

* * *

**_Hehehehehehe. Welcome back brat. Haven't seen you in these parts for quite awhile now._**

Naruto opened his eyes, but didn't open them. He was still unconscious, but now he was awake, and in the one place he really didn't want to be in. His subconscious.

Naruto slowly turned around and was met by the immense cage that made up Kyuubi's prison. And there in the shadows of the cage was the giant glowing red eyes of the nine-tailed fox, the Kyuubi of Konoha. "It's not like I wanted to end up here you stupid fox."

Kyuubi smiled, revealing rows of glistening white fangs. **_Oh! you hurt my feelings brat, and I missed you so. Maybe I should stop lending you my powers from now on, hmmm?_**

Kyuubi's voice was deep and rumbling, causing Naruto's subconscious head to vibrate. Naruto grimaced, "You don't have a choice in that matter you stupid fox. You don't have control of whether I'm allowed to use your powers or not anymore." Naruto grinned, "I can use you anytime I want now."

Kyuubi chuckled, a deep rolling rumble that sounded like hills grinding on hills. **_Oh yes, how could I forget? But using my powers whenever you want would mean someone would see you use them someday, maybe even that lovely Hinata-chan. How delicious she is, when are we going to sleep with her?_**

Naruto glared, "What the hell do you mean _we_! And what the fuck makes you think I'm going to sleep with her, its not like she's like that or anything!"

Kyuubi chuckled again, **_Oh, my poor little brat. You forget we share the same body after all. I know what you feel deep inside when you lie awake at night with that wonderfully delicious body of hers only a few feet away. I know your every fantasy, I know and can feel your most basic instincts. Like your want for sex. You want her, admit it._**

Naruto clenched his fists, but held them at his sides, "No! I'm not like you! I love her, I would never just have sex with… anybody! Especially her! I'm not like you dammnit!"

Kyuubi laughed, a rumble so loud an deep it sounded like mountains collapsing. It brought Naruto to his knees. **_You ARE me, brat! Hahahaha! What makes you think that we aren't the same creature? We share the same body don't we? You and I, we are one, there is no escaping that. _**Kyuubi's voice seemed to sober a bit though, **_So you might as well get used to it Naruto, you're stuck with me._**

Naruto glared at Kyuubi for a long moment before turning his back and crossing his arms. "Why the hell did you call me here anyway? And don't say you didn't! I know I can't get here unless you want me too!"

This time Kyuubi didn't laugh, **_I thought it was obvious, Headaches, blurry vision, trouble controlling chakra… it reminds me of puberty, without the hair in the strange places._**

Naruto turned around and shot Kyuubi a dangerous look, "What the hell do you know about it?"

**_Well we have been sharing your body for your entire life, it would only be natural for me to be aware of the changes your body went through when you…_**

"No, not that you stupid fox! My headaches, my eyes getting all blurry! What the hell do you know about that!" Naruto was getting tired of this, he hated talking to Kyuubi about things the fox knew about, but _he_ didn't understand. It never ended up the way he would like it to.

Kyuubi sneered, his most familiar expression to Naruto, **_Ah yes, that. Well I suppose I could tell you, but you already know what I'm going to say don't you?_**

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes, "What the hell do you want?" This was why it never ended up the way he'd like it to.

Kyuubi purred, a soft base rumble that sounded like velvet. **_You have to give me access. Just once is all I'm asking, and it has to be at anytime I choose._**

Naruto grimaced, he hated letting Kyuubi having access to the outside, he always came out at the wrong times. Naruto ground his teeth a little longer, "Fine, but it can't be anytime that I need to focus and have control over my thoughts, understand? And it can't be complete take over or when anyone who doesn't know about you is around."

Kyuubi emitted a growl deep from within his chest. He didn't like restrictions, **_Done._**

Naruto hated waiting, "So? What is happening to me? What's going on?"

Kyuubi sighed, **_I hate explaining things too you, you ask so many questions. Fine, because of your constant training program, which is more difficult than what most ninjas go through might I add, you are putting significant strain upon even _your _enduring body. Add that to all the emotional trauma you've been going through, that was such a nasty thing the Hyuuga's did wasn't it? I wonder who it is?_**

Naruto, was getting pissed, "Get to the goddamn point!"

Kyuubi sighed dramatically, a sound that made hurricane's feel weak. **_Pushy, pushy, very well, because of the unnatural amount of strain on your physical and mental, your body is reacting as if it was in life-threatening danger._**

Naruto frowned confused, "So my body responds to life threatening danger by giving me bad eyesight and making me sick? What the hell is that! That's never happened before, and I've been in plenty of life threatening situations!"

Now Kyuubi really sighed, exasperated with the boys lack of thought. He was okay during a battle, but during social hour, he was a few bricks shy of a house. **_Its happening now because you've been under this sort of strain for several days now. Usually you're only in danger until you defeat your opponent, which usually only takes a few minutes. But because you've been torturing yourself physically and mentally, your body thinks you're in more danger than you've ever been in before. So its responding._**

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "That still doesn't explain why its making me into a complete weakling!"

**_You're not a weakling you dope! Your just in the beginning stages and you don't know how to control it yet! Once you learn that you'll be fine._**

Naruto was getting tired of this, "What the hell are you talking about! I have no idea what your saying! Why can't you just speak normally and tell me straight up what's going on you stupid fox!

Kyuubi slapped himself in the forehead, this was getting tiresome. **_Why couldn't your older brother seal me in someone who at least had half a brain?_** Kyuubi shook his gigantic head, **_Fine, if you want it plain and simple here it is. Your body thinks its in extreme peril and therefore has begun to activate your bloodline limit, your Zenseigan. Your in the early stages right now, and so you don't have any control, once you figure it out you'll be able to control it and once you do that, the Zenseigan will fully emerge. Happy now you good for nothing brat?_**

Naruto nodded smugly, "Yeah, I don't know why you couldn't just tell me that right away. Anyway it looks like I'm about to wake up, so later!"

Naruto faded away but not before he heard Kyuubi whisper **_Don't forget our deal my little brat._**

**_

* * *

_**

Naruto slowly receded from the darkness, and slowly opened his eyes to what seemed like unnaturally bright light. It was a lamp, and it was night.

"He's awake!" Tenten jumped up and began waving at everyone across the room.

To Naruto, Tenten's voice sounded unnaturally loud, and it made his eardrums hurt. Another reason he hated dealing with Kyuubi, he always woke up as if he had been drinking none-stop the night before.

He was soon surrounded by five worried faces. He was laying on his bed, Hinata was crouched next to him holding his hand, Sakura and Tenten on his other side, and Neji and Lee at the foot of his bed.

Hinata's face was streaked with dried tears, "S-Sakura-chan tried healing you, but she said you had gone into a coma, we didn't know if you… if you would ever…" She quickly dissolved into tears at the thought.

Naruto sat up quickly, causing a wave of dizziness to come over him, but he shook it off, and enfolded Hinata in his arms, stroking her hair and face, and making soft reassuring sounds. He hated it when she cried, especially when it was because of him.

He waited until she had stopped crying and was only holding onto him with a death-grip, "How long was I out?"

Everyone seemed to grimace as one, even Hinata whimpered. Sakura spoke up though, "You were out for nearly two weeks Naruto."

Naruto sucked in a deep breath to keep himself from screaming. Two weeks! Anything could've happened in that time. Yet another reason he hated dealing with the demon fox, time in his subconscious was often twisted an warped when in the presence of the demon. So that an hour there could be anywhere from a micro-second to an entire year in the real world. Naruto sighed, what the hell had happened while he was out?

Neji seemed to read his thoughts, "We all took a break from training. We've been here the entire time. Especially Hinata."

Tenten piped up, "Yeah, we only really left to use the bathroom and get some food, we had to force Hinata to go to the bathroom though, and we had to bring up her food. She didn't want to leave your side for more than a second."

Naruto choked back his tears, he knew these were the best friends he could ask for, but he had never expected this much devotion from them. It warmed him inside, especially Hinata not leaving his side, even though he would've preferred that no one worried about him. He hated himself for that, making them worry about him, and in turn felt more guilty for keeping so many secrets from them, especially the lavender-eyed girl he held in his arms.

Naruto stared at the foot of the bed, unable to meet even Hinata's worried eyes. "I'm sorry… I've been… so stupid."

Sakura put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't say that, you coming back to us is enough reason for forgiveness I think."

Naruto watched as everyone nodded their heads in agreement, Hinata put her arms around his shoulders and snuggled the crook of his neck, "Just… don't do that again. I… I was so scared."

Naruto hugged his love as hard as he could without hurting her, and snuggled her hair, breathing in the strong scent of lavender, and underneath that the scent of her body. He memorized that smell. "I promised to never leave your side, remember? I will always keep that promise."

Sakura gave them a moment, before asking "Do you know why this happened Naruto?"

Naruto paused, and decided to go with the truth, part of it anyway. "I think, because of all the strain I've been putting myself through lately, that my Zenseigan is finally activating."

That drew a lot of surprised looks from everyone.

Naruto shrugged, "I don't think I can control it yet though."

Neji nodded, "You did tell us that the Uzumaki's received their blood limit at a later age. Hyuuga's are just born with it, obviously, and the Uchihas, from what I understand, it activates part of the way and is instantly useable. Apparently you need to gain control of yours first before you can start using it properly, and before it stops leaving you alone. I think you need to spend time on this before getting back to your normal training."

As much as Naruto hated not training he agreed, "Yeah, I just wish someone from my clan was still alive. This is going to be hard without anyone to teach me how to do it."

Everyone became somber at Naruto's tone. Hinata was the first to speak, "You can do it Naruto, we have faith in you."

Lee smiled and struck his nice-guy pose, making Naruto smile, he hadn't seen that in a while. "That's right, we have faith in you my friend, if anyone can learn the secrets of the great Zenseigan, its you!"

Naruto and the others couldn't help but chuckle at Lee's… exuberance. Naruto hadn't felt this good all week, but it wouldn't last long, as his mind cleared it slowly began to brood again. "I'm fine this time guys, really, I'm okay."

It took a moment to get everyone out of his room, Neji wanted to ask him some questions, Tenten wanted to comfort Hinata, Lee wanted to get started on blood limit training right away and Sakura wanted to do a final check-up on him, just to make sure he wasn't going to pass out again.

Finally the last one left, closing the door behind them, he was alone now with Hinata.

They were silent for several minutes.

"What's wrong Naruto? Why won't you tell me? Every time I ask you, you say your fine or just thinking about nothing." She began to twiddle her fingers, "…I want to know Naruto, I love you, I… I want to help."

Naruto felt his heart-strings pulled at the tone of her voice, she sounded so weak, and vulnerable. He really hated himself right then for not just telling her everything right away, and here he was, three weeks later, and he still hadn't told anyone. But he was scared too, scared of the secret he had never told anyone but the highest officials in Konoha, people who already knew.

Hinata pressed her face against his chest, he could feel the wet warmth as her tears began to soak through his shirt. He was having a hard time keeping back his own tears, he hated himself so much right then. "Hinata, I'm so sorry… so sorry."

Hinata began to shake in his arms and he could here her muffled voice against his chest, "Please, tell me, let me in. Please… don't leave me in the dark, I just want to help… I just want to…"

Naruto pulled her face away from his chest and cupped her face in his hand, staring into her eyes, she was so beautiful, even with her eyes swollen and red and her face flushed and streaked with wet tears, she was Gorgeous. He slowly bent down and kissed her, he could taste the salt of her tears on her lips, he loved it. Suddenly, she gripped the back of his head, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pushing hard against his mouth.

Naruto did nothing to stop her, and instead did something he had never done before, he began pressing his tongue against her lips, seeking entrance.

Hinata paused, then opened her mouth and let him in, she didn't know what had happened, she was crying one moment, and now she was kissing Naruto like she'd never done before.

It was different using their tongues, they were clumsy at first and inexperienced, but Naruto soon found ways of running his tongue lightly over her lips and sucking slightly at the same time that caused her to whimper and gasp. She gripped the back of his head still, she was determined not to let go, though Naruto seemed to have no intention of backing off.

She could feel little shocks and shivers run up and down her body as Naruto fenced with her tongue. She had never kissed like this before, and she knew why now, that heat inside of her was a raging conflagration that threatened to burn her to ash at any moment. This time though she didn't care, she had thought she was going to lose the love of her life not too long ago, she wasn't going to lose this moment.

Naruto could feel his breath coming heavy and fast, he was beginning to feel a burning spread from his lower regions all over his body. He could taste her, just as she tasted him, it reminded him of her smell, which he noticed was getting stronger by the passing minute, it was driving him closer and closer to losing control. He loved it.

His hands began to roam up and down her back as if they had a mind of their own, he couldn't stop himself. His one hand went past the small of her back and hesitantly cupped her bottom and on impulse he gave her a quick, light squeeze, causing Hinata to gasp and tighten her grip on his hair. She reared up so that she was kneeling and pressing down on him, giving his hands more room to explore her backside, and slowing her to be in charge of the kissing.

He squeezed her butt again, harder this time. Hinata gasped in his mouth, her chest rising and falling against his, "N-Naruto-kun…" she sighed.

The way she said his name was maddening, he wanted to hear her say his name like that again, and again.

He could feel a caged beast begin to awaken inside of him, and grow restless pacing back and forth behind cage bars, reminding him of Kyuubi. Naruto cupped Hinata's face, and gently began to pull away. Hinata hesitated, then loosened her grip on his hair, sensing his need to stop, and eventually let her hand rest on the back of his neck. She was flushed, and her eyes half-glazed, she rested her head under his chin and slowly yet fervently rubbed his shoulders and back.

Naruto cradled her in his arms and rubbed her back as well, he had no idea what had come over him. He wanted to go back to kissing her and touching her like that again. He took a deep breath, shaky breath, and then another, slowly calming himself down. Hinata was breathing just as heavily.

"Hinata, I'm sorry… I don't know what came over me, I…"

Hinata pressed her finger to his lips, "I-its okay Naruto-kun, really. I-I liked it."

Naruto gave her a surprised look, causing her to blush a deep scarlet red. He could tell she had liked it, he had no idea why he was bothering to apologize in the first place, he just felt that he had too.

"Naruto…"

"Yes?" Naruto noticed her pause and waited.

Hinata waited a moment to catch her thoughts, which were swimming around her head at the moment. "I love you Naruto, more than anything. Nothing you tell me…" Hinata sat up and cupped Naruto's face in her hands, "…_Nothing_, could make me stop loving you, ever. I promised to never leave your side remember? I'm always here for you Naruto, always. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I just want you to know that I'm here and willing to listen, so I hope that someday…"

Naruto put his finger on her lips, silencing her. "Re-remember that night I told you about my history? About me being in the orphanage and how everyone treated me?" he waited for Hinata to nod, "Well… I lied. I _do_ know why everyone hated me Hinata. I didn't know back then, but around the time we graduated from the academy… I knew."

Hinata sat down across from him, and held both of his hands in hers. She looked into his eyes, an infinite amount of patience reflected in those pale lavender orbs. She was ready to listen, no matter how long it took.

Naruto sighed heavily, "Remember the Yondaime is my older brother? The one who sealed the Nine-tailed Fox?" Hinata nodded slowly, not quite yet understanding where this was going, Naruto breathed heavily, hesitant to go on, but he had already told too much, there was no turning back now, no matter how scared he was.

"The fourth Hokage was able to seal the demonic energy of that fox inside an infant who had just been born." Hinata's eyes began to widen, comprehension slowly dawning on her.

Naruto, paused not knowing if he could do this, but slowly he pulled his hands away from hers and lifted up his shirt and began to focus his chakra. Before Hinata's stunned eyes, a spiral seal took form upon Naruto's exposed stomach. A seal with layers upon layers of seals, but with openings, openings that would allow whatever was sealed… to leak out.

Naruto stared intensely into Hinata's eyes, "I…" he choked afraid of what was going to happen next, "… I was that child Hinata." He couldn't hold it any longer, he choked again and the tears began to flow. He couldn't believe it, after so many years he still had tears to cry about this, he still had tears of sadness for himself.

"I'm so sorry Hinata! For not telling you, for letting you know that you were with a… a monster! I'm sorry! I understand if you hate me for what I am, I understand if you never want to be with me, and I understand if…" Naruto tensed, but forced himself to continue, "…if you don't… love me anymore. I just want you to forgive me for lying to you all this time, and I just want you to know that I love you with all my heart, and if I could I'd rewind time and tell you when I first met you." He couldn't continue, he bent over double, burying his face in his knees and cried.

He expected to hear a scream, a door slam as she left, anything but what happened next. Hinata hugged him. Then she pressed her forehead against his, and she cried with him. Together they cried, sharing the pain he had built up for the past seventeen years and sharing the anguish, the sadness and the anger that he had gone through for his entire life.

"Naruto… I love you! I there's nothing that could make me hate you for what you are. You see, you have been nothing but what you are the entire time I've known you, how could I hate what's you Naruto? How could I _not_ want to be with you… how… how could I not love you?" Hinata gently pulled the vulnerable form of her love into her chest, letting him cry his sorrow, as she cried her pain at seeing him like this and finally understanding, understanding everything he went through, everything done and said to him, the hate and violence he suffered, and the unnatural loneliness he must of felt for the majority of his childhood. All because he had saved their village by becoming a living martyr, and the only way he could be repaid was with hate.

Hinata felt her instinctual protectiveness take over as she tightened her grip on the shaking Naruto, softly stroking his hair and murmuring soft reassurances. Strange how he had just done the same things to her not too long ago when he had woken up. She felt a new feeling for her village… hate. Maybe not for the village, but for everyone who treated him like an outcast and knew about his sacrifice, because that's how she saw it, his older brother had apparently meant for him to be a hero, but it hadn't turned out that way, she guessed she knew how people must've seen him as a potential danger, maybe even as the demon itself.

She held her Naruto, letting him hold her as tightly as he wanted, she knew she was his life-line right now, and she was more than glad to take that role. She kissed his head, "I will never leave your side my love. Never."

Through choked sobs, he told her everything, all the times he transformed, all the conversations he had with the demon when he blacked out, he even described Kyuubi's sarcastic attitude in full detail. He told her everything, in as much detail as he could, what happened, what he saw, and what and how he felt. Hinata listened, absorbing it all, and remembering one of the reasons why she loved this man so much… confidence. Through all the hardships he had been through, all the hate, all the contact with a demon, he still kept his confidence, and therefore kept his kindness, his love and his humanity. She was amazed at her capacity to keep falling ever more deeply in love with him. _Will I ever stop falling for him? Or is this a bottomless pit that I never want to get out of?_

They slept curled together that night, lost in each other's presence and warmth. Hinata didn't care that she was in the same bed as him, she wasn't going to let him be alone anymore.

She made a mental note to get rid of the second bed tomorrow morning.

* * *

Sasuke leaped from tree-branch to tree-branch, reveling in the feel of freedom he got from being so far away from the fortress. Beside him, Duseto and Zeek struggled to keep up, finding it difficult to match his speed, but luckily just as tireless as he. Being an elite sound jounin gave that benefit. 

It had been three weeks since they had left the fortress, heading west, they were coming up on Konoha now, it was only a few days away now. If Naruto was still within the borders of the Fire country, it would only be a couple weeks past the Hidden Leaf Village before they reached the border.

Of course it would be faster if the Jigokinu could track faster, it was impressive that they could smell Uzumaki all the way over here, but it was still too slow for Sasuke's liking. The massive beasts would sniff ahead, taking anywhere from an hour to a day before giving one of their mournful howls, signaling Sasuke and the others to catch up. They would run ahead, find the mutts and start the process all over again.

Now he leapt through the trees, a blur to the untrained eye, below him the Jigokinu ran, a long smooth gait that looked nothing like a dogs, they were easily outpacing him.

Sasuke considered himself lucky, or just very smart. Duseto and Zeek were terrified of the beasts, remembering all the stories that circulated around Orochimaru's soldiers about them. Sasuke had not a shred of fear, before he had left he had snuck into Orochimaru's private storage chamber and stole one of his jigo-medallions. The objects that allowed Orochimaru to control the ferocious Jigokinu.

Sasuke sneered, Orochimaru probably had planned on having the Jigokinu finish Naruto without him being allowed to fight him. _That smug bastard, he's lucky I can't kill him… yet._ So he stole one of the control devices, now the Jigokinu whimpered before him as if he were Orochimaru himself. Sasuke laughed to himself, he was enjoying this, now if only those mongrels would move faster!

As Sasuke and the Jigokinu sped on ahead, trailed by the two elite jounin, none of them noticed the two shadows standing in the top of one of the trees, watching their progress carefully.

Kisame grunted, "Are those Jigo-thingies really that strong? I wouldn't mind taking a crack at'em myself." Kisame patted the large bundle he kept rested on his shoulder at all times, "Samehada would make quick work of them I bet."

Itachi stared at the retreating form of his younger brother, "Yes… they really are that strong Kisame. And they don't even use chakra, so your sword is useless, so is any jutsu of any type you use against them."

Kisame raised an eyebrow, "Really? You sound like you've tussled with one before. The big gray man paused scratching his head, "…Why won't my jutsus hurt'em? And if that's true, then I'll just use Samehada to shave them to shreds." Kisame chuckled to himself, apparently amused.

Itachi showed no signs of mirth, or any other feeling for that matter. "Yes I have fought one, I barely defeated it in time to save my own life, it is difficult to kill them, for chakra is merely absorbed by them, becoming neutralized, and their skin is immune but to the strongest of attacks. Your sword is useless against them, Kisame. We can only hope Uzumaki will weaken them enough for us to be able kill them quickly."

"You really think that Naruto kid can hurt something like that?" Kisame was finding that hard to believe.

Itachi smirked, one of his extremely rare expressions. It gave Kisame the creeps. "Oh yes, Kisame. I believe Uzumaki Naruto is far stronger than any of us know."

* * *

Right-io! Hope you liked, sorry for delaying Hinata's secret but I promise it shall be in one of the next two chapters. Promise. Now worship the Jello-god in all his might by submitting your souls in the form of delicious reviews! (By the way, Lemon-flavor rocks!) 

**Chapter Preview:** the Zenseigan emerges! Can Naruto control it before its too late? Find out next time! Same Naruto time, same Naruto channel:corny batman music playing in the background:


	14. Zenseigan

Just finished chapter 14, from the title you should be able to tell what its about. Hope you like it. If any of you were wondering, The Jigokinu _are_ my idea, just wait until you see what they can really do!

Oh and for all you hentais out there waiting for the next chapter, do not fear, it will be up soon. I personaly can't wait to type it myself, its really the first scene of its sort that I've ever written, I pray for the best. Again, loving the wonderful reviews!

If any of you didn't notice, I've put the names of the chapters into that little menu sidbar... thingy, for your viewing pleasure!

Anyway, read my chapter, love it, smell it, lick it, but no humping it! Enjoy!**

* * *

**

**Chapter 14: Zenseigan**

Naruto opened his eyes to the sunlight streaming through the window blinds. He didn't know when he had gone to sleep, all he remembered was telling Hinata everything, and then her embrace, then darkness.

He tried to sit up, but his arm was unable to move, he looked down to see that his arm was pinned by Hinata's head. Her eyes twitched when he moved, and she snuggled closer into the crook of his arm. He looked down at her with something close to worship in his eyes. She hadn't rejected him, she hadn't turned him away, and most important of all, she didn't hate him.

She had told him that she still loved him.

Naruto was so full with emotion that he felt a physical twinge in his chest, right where his heart was. He couldn't express in words the amount of gratitude he was feeling for her right then, he realized he didn't have too, loving her was enough thanks he could ever give her. But that didn't stop him from wanting to give her more.

She was so peaceful looking, the way she breathed and how the one beam of sunlight struck her face, illuminating her profile and revealing the dust motes circling through the air above her head, like small winking stars. He slowly lowered himself so he was laying down again, and gently shifted so that his nose brushed hers. This was where he wanted to be, nowhere but here, all he wanted to do was look at this peaceful sleeping beauty, study her and memorize her every curve, her every hair, her every breath.

It was another hour before she began to stir, her eyes fluttered at first and then slowly opened, squinting at the sunlight. She was met by two sky-blue orbs that pierced deeply into her soul, searching, wondering, scared. She wanted nothing but to erase that fear in the two most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, eyes that caught her the very first day she laid eyes on them.

She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, lightly, a mere brushing of skin. She could feel his breath, she could smell his lust, and she could taste his love. She pressed her lips fully against his, enjoying the shocks of pleasure that his tongue caused, running against her lips.

He pulled away slowly, looking into her eyes, still searching. "Thank you Hinata-chan. For not leaving me."

She could _feel_ the love and gratitude in that simple 'thank you'. She pressed her forehead against his, staring into those irises that looked so much like the summer sky. "I love you."

He smiled then, "You don't need to tell me that, I already know." He kissed her lightly, "_I_ love you… more than I can express in words."

She snuggled against him, listening to the rhythmic thump his heart. She imagined every beat sealing them together, closer and closer, until they would never be able to, and would never want to escape. To escape a trap called love was nigh but impossible.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, not needing to speak, or gesture, just knowing that they would always love each other, and they would always be together, death do them part. Finally Hinata sat up, "I'm going to change, you should too, you have training to do today."

Naruto grunted, rolling his eyes sarcastically "Ugh, do I have too? Wouldn't it just be nicer to stay in bed for the rest of the day? I would really like that."

Hinata leaned down so she was half on top of him, she kissed him and whispered "We have plenty of time for that later, my Nine-tailed Fox." She blushed and slid out of bed, heading to the bathroom to change.

Naruto watched her every movement until the door shut and he could no longer see her. It was strange, but he liked the way she had said that. Normally he thought he'd be angry at anyone who called him a name after Kyuubi, but when Hinata said it, it made him blush, breath hard and hot all over. He realized he was turned on by it, and quickly got out of bed to change as well, he was going to have get a better grip on himself, but he didn't feel that he'd have much control over what he did if she kept talking to him like that though.

He smiled to himself, and blushed a little, remembering her words _"We have plenty of time for that later…"_ He was going to go insane if he kept thinking about her talking to him like that, so he focused on putting one sock on at a time, rather than both at once like he had been without realizing it.

* * *

They all sat in on the mats of the dojo, all sitting cross-legged in a circle. 

"Do you have any idea what it does Naruto?" Neji had probably asked this question ten times by now.

"No! I keep telling you, apparently all the information about it is inside this!" Naruto held up the old manila folder that possessed information on his family heritage. It was heavy, nearly three inches thick, and he couldn't look at a bit of it because of a damn seal he had never seen before.

Everyone was frowning, they had been here for over two hours now, trying to figure out how to get Naruto's advanced bloodline to activate. They had gotten nowhere. They had tried some sparring, seeing if stress would bring some results. It only succeeded in giving him a monstrous headache, and slightly blurred vision again. Sakura had tried scanning him with her healing jutsus, no luck. Neji and Hinata both had used their Byakugan to see if they could see any unusual flows of chakra, no luck. Tenten had done acupuncture, she apparently was very good, all it did was make his skin itchy though, and Lee had impulsively tried slapping him in the temples to see if he could force the Zenseigan awake. That had gotten him a black eye which Sakura healed.

Naruto was getting frustrated, and he wasn't the only one, everyone's tempers were running high except Hinata's. She was the only reason Naruto hadn't torn out all their throats already. How were they supposed to get him to train his blood limit if they couldn't even get it started up?

Neji frowned, his chin resting on his fist, "Let me see that folder Naruto." Naruto sighed and tossed it to him. Neji examined the seal on the cover thoroughly, and paused, "I've never seen a seal like this before, ever."

Naruto plopped backwards, laying down and putting his hands behind his head. "Neji, we're surrounded by seals that have never been seen anywhere else, ever. So what? Big deal, its just another mysterious seal." Naruto waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.

Everyone else was sitting in their own deep thoughts, so Neji continued staring at the manila folder, reading what it said over and over again, _"The Uses of the Zenseigan and the Uzumaki Seals." _Neji frowned, he could almost sense something in his thoughts, almost tangible. Like fumbling for a light switch.

The switch clicked on.

"Naruto!"

Everyone suddenly jumped at Neji's exclamation. Naruto sprung up from his laying position, and stared at Neji. "What!"

Neji looked nearly frantic, excited really, his eyes were shining, his eyebrows raised, and he was smiling. He did that a lot more often now, smiling was becoming second nature for him. "Naruto, look at what it says on the cover, 'The Uses of the Zenseigan and the Uzumaki _Seals_. This seal on the cover has got to be from your clan."

Naruto frowned, confused, "Yeah, I figured that much… so?"

Neji rolled his eyes, and slapped the folder, "Tell me Naruto, why would the uses of your blood limit _and_ the uses of your clan's seals be in the _same document_?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know, to save space I guess?"

Sakura slapped him on the back of the head, she understood now, "Think about it dimwit! This _your_ Zenseigan!"

Everyone else was on the verge of telling him what it meant, also understanding what Neji was getting at, but quickly snapped shut their mouths at Sakura's out burst.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and glared at Sakura, but he frowned and thought for a couple of seconds before opening his mouth, "Seals, my blood limit has to do something with seals. Right?"

Neji raised his eyebrows, he had expected it to take longer for Naruto to realize what he was getting at. "Right, it has to be that, that's why only a Zenseigan user can open this document!"

Naruto's eyes brightened, "That's why only someone with my blood limit could use this!" Naruto held up the three-pronged kunai knife that had belonged to his brother, it's ivory handle engraved with a seal no one else had ever seen before.

Everyone, including Naruto was getting excited, Naruto jumped up and began to pace. He knew what it did now, "Now how do I activate it? I don't feel like going through more splitting headaches, there's gotta be another way." He continued pacing outside the circle as everyone else sat deep in thought.

Another half hour went by with no results, Naruto was starting to get dizzy as his headache got worse while he continued to stress. Finally he sat down, swaying drunkenly. Hinata sat behind him and pulled his head into her lap and gently began to massage his temples.

Naruto frowned at the distant ceiling, "I don't get it, why won't it just wake up? I've been putting enough stress on myself that it should've woken up by now, I don't get it!" He was answered with silence.

Naruto closed his eyes, his headache was quickly disappearing under the skilled fingers of Hinata. He thought as hard as he could, going through every conceivable possibility. His thoughts paused though as the pleasurable sensations began to lull him into a state of utter relaxation, more relaxed than he had been for quite awhile. Of course he realized he hadn't had Hinata give him a massage in some time. He grunted slightly in pleasure from Hinata's touch.

Hinata giggled, "Headache almost gone my love?"

Naruto nodded, "Its completely gone thanks to you." He sighed, "This feels so good, thank you Hinata-chan."

Neji frowned, "Hinata? Are you using Jyuuken?"

Hinata looked up in surprise, but nodded her head, "Yeah, it lets me get at the muscles and all the other tissue more easily, and relax it as much as possible."

Naruto grunted again, "Gotta have Jyuuken."

Neji's eyes widened, Naruto's headaches had never gone away, no matter what they had done before, of course he hadn't gotten a temple massage from Hinata during the three days he was having those problems. Neji quickly activated his Byakugan, and was amazed at what he saw. Hinata's chakra was swirling through his temples and around the back of his eyes, mingling with a chakra that hadn't been there before, and…

"N-Naruto?"

Naruto grunted, "Hm, Neji?"

Neji swallowed hard, "It's awake."

Dead silence descended upon the group simultaneously, and everyone quickly looked at Neji, all except Naruto who kept his eyes closed, breathing hard. "A-Are you sure Neji?"

Neji nodded even though he couldn't see him, "Hinata's Jyuuken is mingling with this chakra in the back of your eyes, it wasn't there before Naruto, it's almost as if Hinata's massaging _drew_ it out of somewhere."

A collective breath was held, Sakura spoke up, whispering, "Naruto… o-open your eyes."

Naruto, hesitated, then slowly, ever so slowly… he opened his eyes.

Hinata gasped as Naruto looked up at her, his eyes hadchanged. They were still the brilliant sky-blue they always were, but they were brighter than any eyes she had seen before, almost _glowing_. But what the most shocking was his pupils, he had none, instead a pure white star-burst was centered in the middle of each sky-blue orb. Each star had nine arms and each arm thinned until it was a point that nearly reached the outer rim of his iris.

Everyone else gasped as they saw his eyes, "Wow."; "Cool!"; "Freaky." Hinata looked at those eyes that where Naruto's and thought they looked amazing, the most amazing things she had ever seen. Maybe it was just because they were Naruto's eyes, but she thought they looked beautiful like that.

What Naruto saw, took his breath away. He saw Hinata's face, but then he looked past her face and _through_ the ceiling at hundreds, no… thousands of what appeared to be glowing stars. He sat up quickly, and instantly became dizzy, all around him were the glowing blue stars, some distant, some close. It took him a moment, but he came to realize that the stars formed the shapes of massive trees and branches, as if someone had wrapped them in Christmas lights.

Naruto remembered what Neji had said, "…Uzumaki _Seals_." _Seals_. Seals! He was stunned, he was looking at all the seals that covered the entire tree village. He could see them as bright as day, and through the walls and the ceiling and even the floor! So that if ignored everything else it seemed as if he was standing in the middle of a star-filled sky.

He tried focusing on one of the glowing spots that was closest to him, it seemed blurry at first but it instantly cleared into the design of a seal. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he felt that what this particular seal did was right on the tip of his tongue, he tried focusing on one of the ones that was farthest away, and it appeared just as clearly. He could feel something… something tangible, like he could… touch it.

There was suddenly a loud explosion in the distance, he hadn't meant to do that, he had caused it to activate and explode, but now this tangible 'hand' was extended and he couldn't draw it back in, he began to panic. He swept his vision to look at Hinata, afraid of what was happening. Every seal his eyes swept across instantly activated.

There suddenly a thousand explosions and other sounds that rang out across the tree-house nearly at once. Everyone jumped, Tenten covered her ears from the explosions, "W-what's going on!"

Naruto looked towards Tenten, and again every seal in his line of sight detonated the instant his eyes 'touched' it. Naruto closed his eyes and pressed his palms over his eyelids.

"Naruto? Naruto! Are you okay?" It was Hinata's voice and she was right next to him, she put her arm over his shoulder, protectively.

Naruto shook his head, "I can't turn it off!" He had no idea how to retract the 'hand' that activated every seal he looked at, and he really had no idea how to stop his blood limit.

Neji stared in disbelief, that was Naruto causing all those explosions? What the hell was this Zenseigan able to do exactly? Neji stood up shakily, the sudden explosions had startled the shit out of him, and they had left a ringing in his ears. He walked over to Naruto and Hinata and crouched next to them, "Naruto, are you listening to me?" Naruto nodded slowly, not taking his hands away from his eyes, "From what I know all Doujutsu blood limits require control of the chakra around your eyes. Hyuugas are born with it, and Uchihas really don't have to control theirs, just know how to activate it. But there is a new pocket of chakra right behind your eyes Naruto, try seeing if you can sense it, can you feel it?"

Naruto concentrated as if his life depended on it, but he didn't have to, almost instantly he felt it, it was that tangible 'hand' he had felt the entire time, but couldn't figure out where it came from. Naruto nodded his head, "Yeah I can feel it."

Hinata took up where Neji left off, "Now to stop it from… doing whatever it is doing, just draw it back away from the front of your eyes and to the back, to shut it off just cut the flow of chakra to it. This is how you stop the chakra that controls your Doujutsu. Try it."

Naruto took a deep breath, and tried drawing his Zenseigan chakra back, it wasn't as hard as he thought, matter of fact it was really easy. He could feel the chakra, almost as if it was a part of his physical being, but he noticed that it was connected to the rest of his chakra and kind of fed off of it. He opened his eyes slowly, to test his control. He could see the seals, but nothing happened. He let go of a breath he had been holding the entire time. He then stopped the flow of chakra to the back of his eyes, easy as cake, and he could physically feel his eyes return back to normal.

Neji watched as the white starbursts retreated and turned into normal black pupils, he nodded, "There it worked, see?"

Lee jumped up, "Alright! We have awakened the fearsome Zenseigan! The Uzumaki clan lives again!" Lee put a jovial hand on Naruto's shoulder, "You must tell us what you did my friend, that was most impressive!"

Naruto looked over at Neji, then at everyone else "You were right it has to do with seals, all those explosions were the tree-house seals that I set off. On accident that is." Naruto paused searching for the correct words, "It was like I could see nearly _all _them, except those that were to far away to show up. And all the ones I could see, no matter how far away they were, I could see them as clearly as reading a book, and it was like I almost knew what they did exactly, but couldn't quite figure it out. Then I felt that I could 'touch' the seal almost, and that's what activated them."

Neji nodded and presented him with the manila folder, "I think you should head to one of the parts of the village we don't use much and practice your control, just don't activate any seals near us. And then I believe you need to do some studying."

Naruto took the document from Neji's hands, holding it almost reverently, like some unique artifact. He smiled at Hinata and gave her a quick hug and kiss, "I'll see you at dinner okay?"

Hinata's eyebrows came together in a worried expression, "Are you sure you'll be okay? Really Naruto, I mean it, are you sure?"

Instead of nodding or saying yes, Naruto kissed her, not one of their normal kisses, but the new way they had discovered kissing each other. Hinata inhaled with surprise, and was left dizzy when he pulled away as if he had been kissing her for hours.

All the others around them had blushed and averted their eyes from the scene, Neji had turned his back, toeing the ground and scratching the back of his head. Seeing his cousin kiss like that was a little uncomfortable for him to watch, he felt as if he was prying.

Naruto put a hand on Neji's shoulder causing him to jump in surprise, "Oh! Naruto! You uh, heading out?"

Naruto laughed then, "Yeah, just wanted to say thanks, if it wasn't for you and Hinata I'd never figured this thing out."

He then turned to the door that lead to sections of the village that they rarely used now, "I'll see you guys at lunch! Expect some serious story-telling when I get back, cause' I get the feeling that I'll have tons to tell!"

Hinata watched him go, she really couldn't wait until he came back. But she was suddenly pulled off towards the baths by Tenten and Sakura. "Come on Hinata! We got some talking to do!" Hinata felt her heart sink at the realization that Sakura and Tenten had both seen Naruto use his… tongue, while kissing her.

* * *

Naruto found a secluded porch that he felt was big enough for him to move around and try out his new toy. 

He sat down and began to fiddle with that chakra in his eyes, practicing turning his Zenseigan on and off, on and off. He wanted to be as good as possible, and it was an hour later before he sensed how much time had passed. He figured he had gotten the hang of it now, each time he activated it, it got faster and faster, until now it awakened almost instantly.

Naruto breathed deeply and turned his blood limit back on again, and mad sure he stared away from the direction that everyone else was in, he by no means wanted to set off a seal near any of them.

He reached out and methodically began to activate one seal at a time, retracting and detracting his Zenseigan chakra. It took a couple of hours, but he eventually got it to the point where he could activate a seal and deactivate the chakra nearly at the same time. He smiled, he was getting good at this. He picked up the manila folder and held his breath.

He activated the seal on the cover of the document, and the cover flipped open so suddenly that he nearly jumped. The first few pages were introductions of what the document was about, with a list of names of the Uzumakis who made it. All who lived before the beginning of Konoha, some who lived while he was born, including the Yondaime… they were his ancestors. Naruto felt emotions begin to bubble up inside of him, this was his family, his clan, and his history. This was another link to his family that he had found, he gently began to turn the pages and read.

He quickly became engulfed in the uses of the Zenseigan, there were descriptions of its main powers and even diagrams and writings on how to use it exactly. Naruto sat down and read the entire first part of the document which was all writing, the next part was considerably longer, and composed entirely of drawings. Each page was devoted to a single seal, its name, uses, how to activate it, how to tweak it, how to make large modifications and of course how to draw it properly. It was all so detailed, he loved it, it reminded him of his chess book.

He also realized that the seals were in order of their strength, the easiest first and getting harder at each turn of the page. Naruto looked at the last page to see a seal that was so complicated that he couldn't follow all its lines, he quickly flipped back to the beginning, rubbing his eyes, looking at the hardest seals hurt his eyes.

He looked through the beginner level seals, and found one he liked, it was called the 'Elemental Burst Seal', the writing said that it was probably the most used attack of the Zenseigan because of its flexibility. Naruto studied it carefully then stood up.

If he remembered correctly there were three main powers to his Zenseigan. 'Activation', 'Boosting', and 'Writing'. Naruto took his brother's kunai knife and carefully carved the seal on the bark of a branch with his brother's kunai. Naruto took a breath and activated the seal, it exploded in a burst of flame, destroying the bark and everything else within three feet of it, looking as if there had been a gunpowder explosion. Naruto grinned, he liked that.

He was feeling excited now, he went over to the blasted area and carved the seal again, this time taking several more steps back. He was going to try the second ability, boosting.

Naruto did what the folder told him too. Instead of activating it, he merely brushed it with his Zenseigan, so as not to set it off. He then began to pump his chakra into it, to his eyes it began to glow brighter and brighter until it was nearly blinding, Naruto took a shaky breath and activated it.

There was a huge explosion that knocked him back to the edge of the porch, luckily the railing was there or else he would've gone right over the edge. Naruto was breathing heavily, he hadn't expected the explosion to be quite that big. He looked through the smoke at where he had placed the seal, instead of a six-foot wide blast mark, there was a twenty-foot wide crater, its edges still burning and smoking. Naruto smiled, "Cooool."

Naruto stood up quickly, holding onto the railing. Normally he would feel a little apprehensive about his Zenseigan's abilities. Going around and spending time carving seals or writing them on scrolls didn't really appeal to him, and they would only be useful in a battle if he got to choose where he wanted to fight, and if he got there before hand so as to booby-trap the area with seals. But he had read the documents thoroughly there was one more ability he could use. Naruto concentrated, and found that he could see the elemental burst seal perfectly in his head, another ability, any seal he carved or wrote while his Zenseigan was active was instantly catalogued, a lot like the Sharingan and jutsus. Naruto opened his eyes and willed his chakra into the 'shape' of the seal and then thrust it at the tree, another explosion nearly knocked through the rail, only as strong as the first explosion but to normal eyes it would seem to have appeared out of nowhere.

Naruto jumped up and wooted in joy, "This is so awesome!" The 'Writing' ability allowed him to form a seal purely of just his chakra, he could then activate it anywhere, on any surface, even water, and even in the middle of the air. Naruto spent the next hour using his now favorite seal, causing it to explode on the tree, the floor, and even in the air high above him. He quickly found out that this ability used more chakra than he expected, and before he got tired and wasted his chakra he stopped shooting it off everywhere. He'd have to use that ability sparingly in battle, but then he remembered how much chakra he really had, it probably used as much as his shadow-clone jutsu or maybe his level three Rasengan. Naruto grinned, he was going to kick ass in fighting now! No wonder his brother had become the fourth Hokage, he'd be able to kick _any_body's ass.

Naruto studied the seal some more, trying out its other uses, which were simply slight modifications to the original design. They allowed him to change the element of the explosion from fire to electricity, air, sonic energy, acid, water or ice and even pure chakra. Naruto read some writings in the margin were his brother had added his own modifications to the design, he got results such as such as an explosion of some sticky substance, kinda like glue, an explosion of vines that entangled opponents, it could only be used on the ground or other plants though. There was also one that merely caused a soundless explosion of white light, which left Naruto blinded and stumbling about for nearly two minutes.

Naruto realized it was getting dark and decided it was time to head back and get some food, he was craving some pork-flavored ramen right then. He grabbed the folder and left behind the partially destroyed porch, flipping through the pages absently, looking at the different seals, not really paying any attention.

He suddenly stopped on a page, recognizing the seal presented. He felt gossebumps cover his body as stark realization came to him, this was big, really big, though understandable. His mind began to form an idea, he smiled to himself, if this worked Tenten was going to love him! He ran all the way back to the central tree.

* * *

Hinata waited impatiently in the common room, she hadn't touched her food ever since the explosions in the distance had stopped. At first each time she heard an explosion she could just imagine Naruto being blown to pieces, but she soon began to rely on the explosions, each time another went off meant he was still alive and okay. Now though it had been silent for close to half an hour. She prayed that he was on his way. 

"He's on his way Hinata, don't worry about it." Sakura had seemed to have read her mind, "Really, nothing could get Naruto, especially not his own blood limit."

Hinata smiled weakly, but still didn't touch her food, the only way she was going to be convinced was when Naruto came through that door.

Naruto suddenly burst through that door.

"Hey guys! Man am I starving! Wait until I eat, I got so much to tell you guys!" Naruto jogged past them, towards the kitchen and found a bowl of hot ramen already waiting for him. He turned around to head back to the common room when he was nearly tackled by Hinata, who began trying to crush him in a death-grip. "Hinata?"

Hinata gave one final squeeze and released him, "I was just worried about you."

Naruto smiled, touched by the unneeded affection and bent down to give her a quick kiss, "Let me finish eating really quick, I got so much to tell you." Hinata smiled, truly relieved that he was okay, he loved it when she smiled like that.

They both reentered the common room, everyone waited impatiently as Naruto hurriedly slurped down his pork-ramen. Hinata always knew what he was in the mood for somehow. Naruto put down the bowl and smiled at everyone.

Neji raised his eyebrows, "Well?" He was really interested in this new blood limit, he wanted to know what it could do, as did everyone else. They all sat in captive silence as Naruto described everything he had done and read, going into detail about the abilities of his Zenseigan. When he finished he was met with stunned silence.

Tenten whistled, "That is so _cool_!" Hinata had to agree, the abilities that his Zenseigan had were impressive, and could be extremely powerful. She was glad that he was getting stronger, for as he continued to get stronger he got closer and closer to his dreams. That's all she wanted, was for him to achieve his dreams and be happy, that way she would be happy as well, oh, she wanted his love too, but of course she already had that and more.

Naruto nodded, "Isn't it?" He hesitated then, but decided to go with the plan he had loosely developed in his head on his way here. "Um, Neji? Can you remove your forehead protector so that I could see your clan seal?"

Neji frowned, "Naruto if you plan on blowing a crater in my forehead, forget it."

Naruto rolled his eyes, "Will you please just do it?" Neji shook his head, but reluctantly removed his forehead protector anyway. Naruto looked at it closely and grinned, "That's an Uzumaki seal."

Neji's eyes widened, as did everyone else's, "Excuse me? Naruto this seal has been in my clan for generations, how the hell could it be an Uzumaki seal when it's a Hyuuga seal?"

Naruto grinned, a look that said 'I-know-something-you-don't'. "Not if the Uzumakis created it first and then _gave_ it to the Hyuugas. Matter of fact, from what I read, my clan is the original inventors of most of the seals that ninja use in scrolls all over the world." Naruto opened the folder to the page he had found, where an exact replica of Neji's seal was drawn. "It was one my clan's more powerful binding seals, usually used on criminals. Along time ago, before Konoha was more than a small thorp, the Hyuugas asked for the assistance of the Uzumakis. Uzumakis gave them what they requested, which was the secrets to several seals that the Hyuugas claimed they needed." Naruto flipped to the front part of the document, "It says here that when the Uzumakis saw how the Hyuugas were abusing their seals they demanded their secrets to be erased from the Hyuuga archives and forbid them to ever use them again. The Hyuugas refused and that's what started the power feud between our clans. The rest's history."

Neji couldn't believe it, well he did, it explained a lot about why Hiashi and most of the main family hated Naruto and the fourth Hokage so much, but it was just hard to believe that this seal on his forehead, in some way, belonged more to Naruto than it did his own clan. "What are you trying to say Naruto?"

Naruto shrugged, "I thought it was obvious, I think I can remove it. Though I don't think your clan would like that."

Tenten jumped up suddenly and squealed, holding her hands to her mouth. She began to cry, but not out of sadness this time. Pure hope filled her eyes, "You… you can do that Naruto?"

Neji was in an equal amount of disbelief, but deep down inside, past the raging confusion of his emotions, was hope. Neji had to choose. He had to choose between his clan and their supposed honor, or the love of his life, the woman he cared for most. There was really never any contest, he made up his mind in an instant, he turned to Naruto, eyes blazing, "Do it. I don't care if its painful, I don't care if there is a chance I might die, the thought of being free to live my life with Tenten… just the hope is enough for me to thank you for, Naruto. Do it."

Naruto grinned, "I don't know if it will hurt or not, or whether it will even work, but I can try. I promise not to kill you though." Neji nodded and slowly got up to sit in front of Naruto, all eyes were on them, Tenten held on to Neji's arm, face buried in his shoulder.

Neji nodded, "Do it." Naruto didn't wait to respond, he activated the Zenseigan, his pupils first turning white then turning into nine-pointed stars, all happening in less than a fraction of a second. He focused on the glowing seal on Neji's forehead, making contact with it, but by no means activating it. He was going to try something the documents had said nothing about, he was going to try the reverse of his boosting ability. He felt the chakra infused into Neji's seal, chakra that no one could see except him, not even the Byakugan could see the subtle chakra that made seals work. Instead of pushing his chakra, he began to pull on Neji's.

Naruto watched as the chakra from Neji's seal began to slide into him, into the area where the Zenseigan's power was located. Naruto discovered that the chakra didn't go away, it just rested there as if waiting for future use, he was amazed at this new discovery, he could store chakra from seals in his body for future use with his Zenseigan, just like what Hinata's armbands did with chakra.

Sakura, Lee and Hinata watched in amazement as the green marking on Neji's forehead seemed to waver, then gradually grew lighter and lighter until it began to disappear as if someone had taken a pencil eraser to it. In a painless process that took a mere fifteen seconds, generations upon generations shackles disappeared, and Neji's freedom was restored.

Sakura ran and grabbed a hand mirror from the common room bathroom, giving it to Neji so he could examine his forehead. Neji looked into the reflective surface, his eyes getting wider and wider as he examined the empty spot on his forehead. He touched his forehead lightly with his fingers, not daring to believe, not daring to hope.

Naruto laughed, shutting off his blood limit, "So? How did I do?"

"I can't believe it. I can't believe it!" Neji suddenly cracked a full smile and began to laugh none stop. "I can't believe it! Hahaha!"

Tenten slowly removed her face from Neji's shoulder and stared at his face; she didn't even have to look at his forehead, the look of pure joy on his face was enough to confirm her hopes. She began to cry again, and threw herself into his arms, "Neji!" She wrapped her arms around his chest, burying her face into the crook of his neck. He was saved, her Neji was saved. "Thank you so much Naruto! Thank you so much! How am I ever going to repay you, I don't know, just thank you so much for freeing him!" Neji was quick to hold the crying form of his love in his arms, and after a moment scooped her up into his arms, heading for the door and their room.

Before leaving he turned around at the door, Tenten had stopped crying, but she was still clinging to Neji, determined to never let go. "Thank you Naruto, I think you just ensured our happiness. How can we thank you?"

Naruto waved his hand dismissively, "Stay alive, be happy, get married and have some kids who'll call me uncle Naru. You know that sort of stuff, doing that will be thanks enough." Naruto waited a moment before adding, "And don't listen to Hiashi when he tells you that you can't marry Tenten. Okay? That should be it."

Neji smiled, "As long as you do the same my friend, as long as you do the same." He turned and headed outside to walk the ramp up to his room, leaving behind a blushing Hinata and Naruto.

Sakura and Lee eventually left, complimenting Naruto on his Zenseigan and his getting rid of Neji's imprisonment. As they left Lee was singing some marching song about the spring of youth, while Sakura was grumbling about not having Tenten sleeping in her room anymore.

Hinata sat close to Naruto, his arm wrapped around her. "What you just did, was probably the sweetest and kindest thing I've ever seen Naruto."

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly, "It was nothing, Neji's my friend, there's no way I'm going to let him get bogged down by Hiashi."

Hinata giggled, "Even so, it was sweet, and I thank you for freeing my cousin." She leaned up and planted a kiss on his cheek, "I think we should go to bed as well, we've been staying up all night listening to you talk."

Naruto nodded and followed Hinata back to their room. It was only when she crawled into bed beside him that he realized the other bed was gone. He smiled to himself and snuggled himself into Hinata's embrace.

* * *

Tsunade didn't look up from her desk until Kakashi and Jaraiya had planted themselves in front of her. "So? How are they doing?" 

Jaraiya smiled, "Their as healthy as a bunch of well groomed cows, without all the lazing around of course… or the eating of grass." Tsunade rolled her eyes at his sarcasm.

"And Naruto and Hinata? How are they?"

Kakashi coughed before answering, "They're doing well, everyone's improved greatly from their constant training, especially Naruto. He was uh… able to beat me in a sparring match, I don't think I stood a chance, not without resorting to my more powerful jutsus."

Tsunade raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Really? That is impressive, maybe I should replace your position with Naruto?" Kakashi paled for a moment before Tsunade began to laugh, "I'm _kidding_ Kakashi, jeez!" Tsunade took a moment to get her laughter under control, "So is there anything else that you wanted to tell me?"

Kakashi and Jaraiya hesitated as one, big mistake.

"What is it?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

Kakashi coughed, he knew they were caught, "I uh… uh, I told Naruto."

Tsunade's pen that she had been writing with suddenly snapped in her hands, a vein began to pump noticeably on her forehead and her eyebrow spasmed. "What?" Her voice was dead and devoid of any feeling.

Kakashi swallowed, "I must apologize, but Naruto knew we were hiding something so I felt compelled to tell him everything that we learned from Hiashi."

Tsunade smiled suddenly, "Oh! Is that all?" There was a certain tightness around her eyes though.

Jaraiya gulped audibly, "… oh shit."

Kakashi had to agree, he had seen that face before. He paled and began to sweat uncontrollably.

They were going to die.

Suddenly someone burst through the Hokage's door, "Hokage-dono! We have a serious problem!" Everyone turned to see that it was Iruka, who was supporting another ninja with his shoulders. The ninja's side was bloody, Kakashi recognized the scout emblem on the ninja's vest.

Tsunade jumped up and ran around her desk to help Iruka lay down the scout-nin as she began to heal his wounds. The one in his side was by far the worse, it was as if something with gigantic jaws had bitten a chunk out of him. She began to sweat from her exertion as the ninja's flesh regenerated and knit back together at superhuman speed.

The ninja was still conscious and gripped her arm, "Hokage… sama. I saw… I saw…"

Tsunade finished her healing, and held up the ninja's head, "What did you see? What happened."

The ninja, though now healed, was still too weak. From the stains, dirt and leaves Tsunade had to guess that he had dragged himself all the way back to Konoha. "I… was part of the west area division… my squad was attacked by trespassers that were heading west. We called for help… ten more squads came… I'm… I'm the only one who survived."

Tsunade felt the fury inside begin to erase the shock that had taken over her. "Who did this? Who did it!"

The scout breathed heavily for a moment, but was somehow able to find enough strength for one last word before passing out.

"… Sasuke…"

Tsunade's blood froze. Sasuke, he was heading west, that could only mean that he was…

Tsunade turned to Kakashi and Jaraiya, "We have to head back, now! Sasuke is _hunting_ Naruto!"

Tsunade gave Iruka instructions for getting the injured scout to the hospital, and then she Kakashi and Jaraiya found themselves racing through the woods at top speed, heading west. They had brought no one else, they couldn't risk it.

Tsunade's mind raced, if that scout was part of the west area division, that meant if he had crawled his way back Sasuke already had a ten day lead on them, she was surprised that the scout could survive so long with such a wound. She let panic take hold of her legs, not bothering to pay attention to small branches that struck her face and arms. She couldn't believe it, eleven squads, each with at least four members, over forty-four chuunin and jounin, all annihilated but one lone survivor. What could do such a thing?

Tsunade prayed silently, willing Naruto to hold on, to just hold on long enough for her to get there in time.

* * *

Hahaha! BOOM! Hahahaha! 

Okay I don't know why I did that, really I don't. Anywho, I think I have threatened you enough to know that I am serious about my reviews. I feed off of them, for they are all that keeps me sustained. lol.

**Chapter Preview:** Lots of Sweaty Action! You know what I'm talking about...


	15. Homecoming Gift

**A/N: **Yawn, still tired from last night. I got caught up and stayed up until three a.m. finishing this chapter. I just had to finish it.

Alright ladies and gents, the chapter that I know many of you hentais have been waiting for. I really hope I did a good job for my first time typing this sort of stuff, so I really do require some reviews guys. Oh and if any lovely women out there would think I'd be a good lay after reading this, then please give me a call :cough:cough: lol. sadly, I'm not like that...

Aaanyway, as you will now notice, this story is now rated "M", for graphic violence and strong sexual situations, plus some coarse language. I really hope all of you like this chapter, and I am so loving the reviews right now, I want to thank **Soulshine** for some of his ideas, they are perfect! I love'em, and I want to thank **DragonMan180** for giving me the correct spelling of Kisame's sword, Samehada.

**Note:** for those of you squeamish about such things, there is a lemon scene in this chapter, so... beware I guess.

Okay then, without further _adoo,_ I present to you the 15th chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

**

**Chapter 15: Homecoming Gift**

The forest was a blur as he leaped from branch to branch, going ever onwards, towards a goal he could not escape. Nor did he want to.

Sasuke couldn't help grinning to himself in utter delight, the group of scouts he'd run into a couple of days ago had been so fun. He hadn't done anything, just ordered one of the Jigokinu to take care of the fifty or so leaf ninjas, it had been a slaughter. He even let one go, letting the poor creature drag itself the five or so miles back to Konoha, he wouldn't mind any pursuit, if they sent any after him they would be strong after what the lone surviving scout would report. He liked strong opponents, they were fun, but sadly none of them were as strong as he was; apparently, all his opponents were dead now. All except one.

_Naruto_.

The thought was so strong that before he knew it he was outdistancing Duseto and Zeek, who were already having trouble keeping up. But no matter how fast he ran the Jigokinu were faster, they were truly vicious in battle, merciless through and through, and Sasuke got the impression that they enjoyed seeing blood. They apparently liked the taste.

Sasuke liked the sight himself.

He was going to kill Naruto once and for all. He couldn't back then, at Valley's End, he was too weak to suppress his emotions. He couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, no matter how angry he was at him right then.

Now, he was ready to kill the person he still considered his best friend. At times he supposed part of him regretted it, but he had been training for years to smash down such useless emotions. The only emotions that he realized were truly useful in this world, were Anger and Hate, they were the only ones that allowed him to gain power at all costs, they were the only emotions he could afford.

Over the years, exposed to Orochimaru's tests, his dark chakra, his hate and his curse seal, he had slowly but surely been driven insane. Sasuke didn't consider himself that way though, matter of fact he had never seen more clearly before. His goals were right in front of him, if he wanted them he just had to reach out and take them, consequences were of no matter, reason was of no consequence. He no longer wanted power to just defeat his brother, he lusted after it like a beautiful and naked women, waiting and willing.

Sasuke was hollow now, a former shell of the once aspiring young man that was part of team seven. A former shadow of Naruto's best friend, a former shape of Sakura's love. He was insane, he was numb, he was nothing. At first look a stranger would say he was Uchiha Sasuke. At first glance a friend would say he was dead.

But if either took the time to know him, as he was now… they would say…

… he was Itachi…

* * *

"Your not going to damage them are you?" Tenten crouched over Naruto's shoulder, her hands fiddling with her clothes, her posture obviously one of stress.

Naruto sighed, "Tenten, they'll be fine, I'm just putting some seals on them, besides you can new ones if their damaged. You usually have to do that anyways, you lose so many of them during weapons practice."

Tenten whimpered in anxiety, obviously not believing.

Naruto sighed again, the girl was too attached to her weapons. He thought sometimes she loved them as much, if not more than Neji. Before him, arrayed on the common room floor, was about a hundred or more throwing weapons, from your basic kunai and shuriken to some of the strangest throwing devices he had ever seen. He was taking a metal 'pen' and slowly carving different seals into them, some explosives, some traps, and especially the one particular seal his brother had created, the one that earned the Yondaime the name 'The Yellow Flash'. He hadn't tried it out yet, apparently his brother hadn't had a chance to put it in the documents, so there was nothing to hint Naruto at what would happen when he used it.

"Tenten! Seriously, your starting to bug me hanging over my shoulder! You the one who agreed to this, so stop, please!" Tenten's brow creased in worry, but she got up and sat on the couch about three feet away. Naruto knew she would eventually crawl back to her original position as she watched him scar her weapons, that was the sixth time he had already told her to give him some space. Luckily he was nearly halfway done. _Where the hell does she put all these when she's fighting?_ On second thought, he didn't want to know.

Neji and Lee came through the door, both bare-chested and sweating with towels around their shoulders, they had apparently been training. Naruto envied them, he hadn't done any sparring for the past two weeks, all he had been doing was studying seals and trying them out. Oh and this, carving seals into every weapon, item of clothing and object he could find, he was amazed at how many uses some of the seals really had.

Neji crouched down and picked up one of the four-pointed shuriken, examining the seal Naruto had carved on it. "What does this one do?"

Naruto didn't even look up, "I can teleport whatever is hit with it to pretty much anywhere I want."

Neji gave an expression of approval, and gave a smirk towards Naruto, "So how is it going?"

Naruto grunted, frowning as he worked on finishing a seal, "Okay, but metal is really hard to carve seals into. Wood and rubber is easier, and cloth rules, I just need a sharpie for that. It would be going easier if _someone_ wasn't always hovering over me." Naruto gave a pointed look at Tenten, who stuck out her tongue in return. Naruto gave Neji a pleading look.

Neji smiled knowingly, and walked over to Tenten, "Come on, I doubt you've even taken a shower this morning ever since Naruto started on your weapons. Come on." Neji jerked his head towards the door and raised his eyebrows in an expecting expression. Tenten caught the hint, blushing and taking Neji's hand as he lead her to their room.

Tenten looked over her shoulder at her weapons lying on the floor, a look of longing on her face, "Are you sure you'll be okay Naruto?"

Naruto gave an exasperated sigh and threw up his hands, "_Yes!_ Jeez, go and have your fun in the shower."

Tenten hesitated only for a moment more before the thought of Neji and shower put together drove her to follow the lavender-eyed man.

Lee grinned and sat down on the couch near Naruto. "You have been very… tense lately my friend. Is it because of your constant study of the Zenseigan? Or is it because you haven't sparred for awhile? Or is it…"

"It's neither of those Lee-san." Naruto didn't elaborate.

Lee smiled content with himself, "Ah! So you _are_ stressed about something. It wouldn't happen to be about a certain pale-eyed girl that I happen to know?"

Much to Lee's pleasure Naruto paused in his work, "What would you know about it you green weirdo."

Lee gave one of his sparkling smiles, "Just because my heart is only for Sakura-chan, does not mean I do not know something of what men think about girls, and what girls think about us men."

Naruto snorted, "Let me guess, Gai-sensei told you everything about it right?"

"No! Gai-sensei has taught me much, but that doesn't mean that everything I know about girls is from his teachings… not all of it anyway. I do know some from personal experience Naruto-san."

Naruto looked up then from his work, one eyebrow raised, "Oh really, didn't know you'd ever get around to dating. So tell me Lee, if your so wise then what exactly is my problem."

Lee stood up and started heading for his room, "Oh, you know my friend, I just _happened_ to spot an extra bed in of the rooms close to yours. It looked like someone _had_ been sleeping in it only a few days ago, but had moved it to that room." Lee waved his hand dismissively, "I have _no_ idea where it came from truthfully." Lee disappeared through the door.

_Hinata's bed_. Or what used to be her bed. Naruto growled, Lee had hit it on the nose. Naruto was having an extremely difficult time sleeping at night now, Hinata pressed up against him was always on his mind as he tried to make himself fall asleep.

He really didn't mind Hinata sleeping in the same bed as him, really, but with her right next to him, breathing against him, feeling her warmth, all these things were creating some very welcome, and at the same time, unwelcome thoughts. And they were driving him insane. He remembered when they had kissed, right after he had woken up from his coma, he remembered the feeling of a caged animal inside of him. There was only one thing that animal wanted, and Naruto was having a hard time resisting it.

He couldn't do such things to Hinata, it would've been wrong to violate something so beautiful, its not like she wanted too anyway. But oh, he wanted too, so badly that it hurt his body all over; and he couldn't bring himself to ask or anything, it would've been too embarrassing for both of them, and… he was scared. He didn't want to be rejected by Hinata, he could be rejected by anyone and it wouldn't matter, but Hinata was a totally different story, he didn't want to mess things up with her.

Plus, though he was ashamed to admit it, he was afraid of 'performing' poorly, what if they did and she laughed at him? Or worse, didn't want to ever again because he was so bad? It wasn't the fact that he wouldn't get any anymore, just the rejection and embarrassment, they were enough to make him feel physically cold at the thought.

Naruto put down the kunai knife he had just finished. Either way, he already promised himself that he would do _nothing_ until he told her everything Kakashi had told him. He was afraid of telling her, she may have accepted him, but could she accept herself? The last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, but he had already realized that if she found out he was keeping something so important from her that it would hurt far more.

He had to tell her… tonight.

* * *

"Sooo? How's sleeping in the same bed as the blue-eyed boy wonder?"

Sakura and Hinata were in the baths together, Tenten hadn't joined them, she had told them she had something pressing to attend to.

Hinata blushed, "It's… okay."

Sakura frowned, "Okay? That's all? I thought you'd be ecstatic about finally sleeping in the same bed as him. You know, because it would be a lot easier for you and him to…" Sakura brought both of her hands together in a very vulgar expression, one hand making a circle and the other hand's pointer-finger going in and out.

Hinata blushed a deep scarlet and hid her face in her knees. "I don't even know if he really wants to or not Sakura-chan." Hinata sighed, "I can't get it off my mind though. So much that I can't get to sleep. I have to pretend to sleep though, because Naruto is awake all night too, which to tell you the truth doesn't help me in getting to sleep."

Sakura smiled her wicked smile, something Hinata had gotten _very_ used to seeing. "He can't sleep either, huh? Well, have you thought about the fact that he's _probably_ thinking the same things you are?"

Hinata looked up from her hiding place within her knees and gave Sakura a very confused look.

Sakura sighed, standing up and beginning to pace slowly. "Look, when you were in love with him, and he didn't even know about it, he only considered you a friend, even though deep down inside I could tell that he felt the same way. It was only when you worked up the courage to tell him that he was able to realize how much he truly cared for you. Same principle applies here."

Hinata shook her head, "Sakura-chan, I was _dying_ then, if I didn't tell him I loved him right then, I thought I was never going to be able to."

Sakura stuck up her finger, "Aha! But what makes you think you ever would've of in the first place? If it wasn't for the fact that you were about to die, you would never had told him. Are you going to wait when that happens again for you to tell him that you love him enough to trust him in the ultimate way?"

Hinata stared into the steaming water, her silence enough to show that she agreed. Sakura crouched back down into the water, putting an arm around Hinata's shoulders, "You want to, he probably wants to, he trusts you, you trust him, your both in love, and your probably going to marry, so I don't see what's the problem. Sure its embarrassing, but if you think about it, that shouldn't be enough of a reason for you to not even just talk about it. Sometimes Hinata-chan, you've gotta say the hell with it! You know, and just do it, don't think before hand, just do it!"

Sakura looked intensely into Hinata's eyes, "Now tell me when you are going to do it, giving yourself a date will help you getting around to doing it. So?"

Hinata breathed in deeply, taking in everything her pink-haired best friend just told her.

"… tonight."

Sakura smiled and gave Hinata a hug, "That's my girl."

Hinata hugged her back. After she released her, they began to wash themselves, she hesitated, but opened her mouth anyways, "Sakura-chan?"

"Hm?"

Hinata hesitated again, "… what about you?"

Sakura turned around from her washing, and gave Hinata a curious look, "What about me?"

Hinata sighed, "Well, you see, I've been wondering about it for awhile now, and I guess Tenten has Neji, and I have Naruto… what about you?"

Sakura paused, and looked absently into the water, "I don't know."

Hinata walked over and sat next to her friend, "If you want to talk about it Sakura-chan, I'm right here."

It was several minutes before Sakura began to speak, "I don't know what to do Hinata. I see Lee-san… I've _been_ seeing him for the past three years. He's grown, he's matured, and he's one of the most handsome guys I know." Sakura smiled sadly, "Not like when I first met him, he was so goofy looking then." Sakura sighed, "And I know he sees me, I know he waits for me. He's dated other girls, but he never gets far with them, just for a few days, then he tells them that they weren't what he was looking for. I know what he's looking for… me. And at times I want to give it to him, but then… then I think about _him_, and I realize that I just can't."

Hinata put her arm around Sakura, comforting her as much as she could. She knew that _him_ could only refer to one person in Sakura-chan's life. Uchiha Sasuke.

Sakura wasn't done, now that she had started talking about it she felt the need to finish. "It's not like I want him dead, I want more than anything for him to be alive and well. But I can't help thinking that if I knew he was dead, that there was no chance for me to get him back, I'd be able to get over him and move on. I'd be able to be with Lee-kun." Sakura turned to Hinata, tears had begun to stream down her face, "You don't understand, Lee is so _close_, he's right here, and he'll always be there for me. And I lay awake at night thinking how stupid I was during the day that I didn't ask him out, didn't kiss him, didn't… tell him I'm in love with him. But then _his_ face comes into my thoughts, and I just can't. I can't live with myself if I'm with Lee and all I can think of is _him_, if when I see Lee I see _his_ face instead." Sakura hugged her knees to her chest as she began to sob. "There has to be something _wrong_ with me! How can I love two men at the same time! How can think more about the man who abandoned me, and less of the man who is always there for me? Am I really that sick?" She lost whatever else she was going to say in her choked sobs.

Hinata hugged Sakura to her, she didn't deserve this. Sakura was a good person, she didn't deserve to be hung up on such a monster. For Hinata believed a person was a monster only if they acted like one and truly didn't care, Sasuke had acted like a monster, leaving Sakura alone and shivering in the dark, all so he could obsessively continue his pursuit of power. Hinata knew Naruto saw Sasuke as a friend, and that Sakura saw him as so much more, but right then she was feeling a strong dislike for Sasuke, bordering on hate actually.

Hinata stayed with Sakura until she couldn't cry anymore, comforting her and telling her it would all be alright. But deep down she wasn't so sure if things would be alright for Sakura.

Or Lee-san for that matter.

* * *

Neji lay in his bed, waiting patiently. Finally he heard the water start in the bathroom, and the drawing aside of a shower curtain as someone got into the bathtub.

Neji smiled to himself, waiting just a little longer then normal, just to make her anxious. He stood up and slid off his robe as he entered the already steamy bathroom, he walked silently over to the shower curtain, using his Byakugan he could see her eyes were closed as she let the water fall onto her face. So he slowly entered the shower from behind and marveled at the back of the naked woman before him.

Slightly tanned, her skin was beautiful, smooth and looking like velvet, it felt like it too. He studied with his eyes the multitude of scars she had. Lines and dots of slightly lighter skin, crisscrossing over each other, creating patterns that he yearned to trace his fingers across. Her hair was beautiful when it was down, it hung straight even though she always wore it in two twisted buns, he felt honored to be one of the few who was able to see her hair like this.

She still hadn't turned around, and so Neji slowly approached from behind. He put his mouth to the crook of her neck, not touching, and breathed lightly. She jumped lightly, startled and began to breath a little more heavily, he could see the artery in her neck pumping madly, he kissed it gently, a brushing of lips on sensitive skin.

Tenten's body broke out in goosebumps from his touch, she reached up with her one arm and put it around his head, holding his lips to her neck. He slowly put his arms around her waist drawing her back to him, she could feel his stiffness pressing against her butt. She started breathing harder than when he surprised her. "…Neji…"

Neji bit his tongue, hearing her whisper his name like that was almost too much, the amount of want in it, the amount of lust, the amount of _need_ was almost enough to make him lose control. He licked her neck, placing soft kisses against her exposed skin. She sighed as his hands began to slide slowly up her stomach, lightly brushing her ribs and then gently rubbing against the bottom of her breasts. Her heart was beating like a caged bird as he drew his hands up and down her sides, never truly making full contact with her chest, it was beginning to drive her batty, she couldn't help but gently rub her butt against him.

He began to pant as much as she, suddenly he slid his hands up her abdomen quickly grabbing both of her breasts and gently squeezing and pressing on them. She gasped, a quick intake of breath, "Neji!" She brought both her hands down and behind her grabbing his butt and pressed themselves together. Neji let out a light moan as she began to grind herself against him.

He massaged her breasts, and gently nibbled on her ear, drawing out small gasps and moans. After he had enough of that he slowly slid one of his hands down her abdomen past her belly and farther, keeping one hand firmly gripping one of her breasts. Sensing what he was doing Tenten stopped grinding herself against him and parted her legs slightly, as his fingers began to caress her.

She began to pant as he slid his fingers in her, in and out, in and out. She moaned lightly, resting her head against his shoulder. "…N-Neji… please…"

Neji couldn't control himself after that, he wasn't planning on this, but he couldn't wait any longer now. He pulled his hand away and gently pressed on her back, causing her to bend over at the waist. It took Tenten a moment before she realized what was happening, she finished bending over, supporting herself on the bath wall, she spread her legs as far as they could go, and arched her back slightly, exposing herself to him. They hadn't tried this position yet.

Neji breathed heavily in anticipation, he gripped her waist and pressed himself against her, not yet entering, rubbing his sex against hers until she moaned and arched her back more, "Neji… please…" her words came in gasps.

Neji gently, and slowly guided himself in, purposely torturing Tenten until she moaned again, louder this time, willing him to move faster. Neji gripped her waist roughly and thrust himself as far as he could go. Tenten screamed, "Oh Neji!" He began to thrust into her, slowly, but hard.

Tenten couldn't believe how far he was going into her because of this position, he was a hot spike of pleasure that seemed to reach into her chest each time he thrust into her. She closed her eyes as her sight began to blur, she was moaning and screaming, and yelling something that could've been Neji's name, she couldn't tell. She began to rock back and forth, catching his rhythm as he began to thrust faster and faster.

Neji could feel nothing but her gripping him tightly, she was yelling something, he couldn't tell what, he thought that he was yelling something to, over and over again. He couldn't focus on that though, his instincts told him to pump faster and harder, trying to reach a goal that was just out of reach; he gladly obliged.

Tenten could feel it coming, almost like when she could feel the undertow while standing in the water at the beach, when a particularly large wave was about to come in. She could feel the wave, almost see it.

It hit her full force.

Her body spasmed uncontrollably and she could hear something, distant at first, then suddenly louder and closer. It took her a moment to realize that it was her screaming Neji's name.

Hearing his name shouted like that was enough to push him over the edge, he came. He felt himself jerk and spasm with the force of his explosions. His vision blurred, and his sense of touch became numbed from the fire inside him.

Finally the fire died down and he could see clearly again. They stood like that, panting, not willing to move with the fear that they would collapse on each other.

Neji finally drew himself out, and pulled Tenten into a standing position, turning her around so her could hug her and smother her shoulder and neck in kisses. She sighed against him, her heart still beating at top speed, "I love you Neji."

Neji snuggled his nose into her hair, breathing deeply, "I love you Tenten." Neji suddenly slipped, falling on his butt with Tenten on top of him. They looked at each other and both immediately burst out in laughter, Neji grabbed Tenten and lay down in the tub, pulling her on top of him.

They lay there like that, the water falling onto them as they basked in the afterglow. Tenten, reached up and kissed Neji's forehead, where his 'Caged Bird Seal' used to be. She sighed and snuggled into his chest smiling contently to herself.

* * *

Itachi watched his brother as he jumped from branch to branch, heading towards the same goal as himself.

He had watched the slaughter of the fifty or so leaf-nin, it was cruel that his brother left one barely alive to crawl his sad and dejected self back to the village in a vain attempt to warn someone in time.

Itachi smiled silently to himself. Soon, soon his little brother would be ready. He was so close, but Itachi watched from the shadows and saw the occasional look of emotion come over his brother's face. He was close, but there still was not enough… hate.

Kisame stepped up next to Itachi, hefting his giant wrapped sword and watching the distant specks that made up Sasuke's tracking party move across their view. "Do we really have to sit by and watch? We can try and catch other jinchuuriki later, its not like we need the Uzumaki brat to lead us to anymore, we can find them our self." Kisame grunted, "And here I see the perfect opportunity for a good fight for once, and all I can do is sit by and 'observe'." Kisame looked over at Itachi, "Sometimes I think our 'leader' just wants all the jinchuuriki for himself."

Itachi continued staring at his brother, "Of course our 'leader' wants all the jinchuuriki for himself, we all do. But if we fought for them it would be bloody and messy and there would be no guarantee that you would survive. If we don't listen to someone we could never function properly as a group. He was the one who came up with this plan after all."

Kisame grunted again shaking his head, "I guess your right, we'll wait." Kisame chuckled to himself, a deep rasping that sounded like sandpaper being rubbed together, "Its like my baby brother Zabuza always said, 'if you can't kill'em quick, kill'em slow.' Hehe."

Itachi nodded turning to regard the massive profile of his partner, "Yes we will be patient, our time will come Kisame. Our time will come."

At Kisame's silent nod, Itachi returned his eye back to his brother. _You have grown strong little brother, I eagerly await to see just how strong you have truly become._

Itachi chuckled, a sound that caused goosebumps to crawl around on Kisame's skin, he preferred it when Itachi did the emotionless thing without the emotion, because even in his rare facial expressions and even in his laughter, there was no life. As Kisame saw it, Itachi was a true example of the walking dead. He couldn't ask for a stronger partner, now if only he wasn't _so_ creepy sometimes.

Itachi watched with eyes the color of blood, the setting sun causing them to glow like a nightmare. "Lead me to him my little brother. Take me to Naruto."

* * *

Naruto waited impatiently, pacing back and forth in his room, he had given Hinata a note to meet him in their room right after she ate dinner. The fact that he wanted her in the room before it was even dark and plus the fact that he had written that he wanted to talk to her about something extremely important, should have been enough. But it was after dinner already, and she was late, he was starting to get worried.

Naruto sat down on the edge of their bed, his back to the door, and hung his head, elbows resting on his knees, his arms hanging loose. He didn't want to let Hinata know about it, but he had to be the one to tell her, he couldn't let anyone else do it for him, and he definitely couldn't let her find out herself. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, he would be here for her, he would let her know that no matter what he was never going to leave her, he just hoped she was able to handle it.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sat up at the familiar voice and turned around, "Hinata, I didn't here you come in…!" He nearly fell out of the bed, but was able to catch his balance and stand up straight. He stared, his mouth slightly open and his shock clear on his face. _She's so beautiful!_

Hinata was standing before him in a dress and high heels. The dress was white and cut at mid-thigh with spaghetti straps that crossed in the back, Naruto had a feeling there was almost no back to the dress. Her hair was combed, the majority of it held in and up in the back with a lavender butterfly clip, the two long 'tails' that framed her face were both braided, with lavender beads at the end of each. Silver earrings hung from her ears and she was wearing _makeup_.

Naruto was literally stunned beyond belief, he had never seen her like this, _ever._ Naruto slowly studied every curve and line of her, his eyes drinking her in, Hinata began to blush. Naruto realized what he was doing without thinking and averted his eyes, blushing himself. He looked back up though, unable to look away for long, "You are so beautiful."

Hinata smiled, "Thank you." She grabbed her skirt, holding it out to the sides, letting him see her as she twirled around, "Sorry about… this. Sakura saw your note and dragged me to her room before I was able to come here. Its hers, and I think the skirt is supposed to be lower, but I'm a little taller than her." Hinata blushed again, smiling prettily. Sakura had told her that tonight was the night, Naruto was obviously going to talk to her about 'you-know-what' as she smoothly put it. Therefore she demanded that Hinata show up looking her best and sexiest.

Naruto gulped, he was going to have a hard time clearing his head with her looking like that. He suddenly felt underdressed, its not like this was supposed to be formal or anything, but with Hinata standing there looking so beautiful he felt a little awkward just standing there in only his gray sweat-pants, no shirt included. Hinata coughed lightly, "There was, um… something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Naruto jumped, "Oh, yeah!" He looked around for a bit, but then shrugged and gestured towards the only spot both of them could sit on. He didn't see Hinata gulp as she sat next to him on the edge of the bed.

Naruto took a calming breath, trying to steady himself. It didn't really work. He turned to Hinata and took her hands, "Hinata, before I tell you this… I just want you to know that I will always love you, forever, and nothing can stop me from loving you, _nothing_." Hinata could hear the echo of her own words coming back to her from Naruto.

Hinata nodded her head, her heart pounding, his holding her hands was causing her to react as if they were just friends again. She had to focus, she wasn't going to faint this time. "I know Naruto, the same goes for me."

Naruto nodded, "I hope you can handle this."

Hinata blushed, "I-I think I can."

Naruto smiled weakly, "I hope you can." Hinata waited her heart beating faster and faster by the second. "Hinata…"

"Yes?" she waited expectantly.

"Its about your father." Naruto sighed, "About him being an utter _ass_hole."

Hinata's heart stopped for a moment, "What do you mean?" This wasn't at all what she was expecting, why did Naruto want to talk to her about something they had agreed not to talk about already.

Naruto swallowed, trying to get rid of the fear that was clawing at his throat, "I mean your father is the biggest… the worst… Agh! I just want you to know that I'm really upset with your father and your about to be as well." Hinata frowned in confusion, this was definitely not what she was planning on talking about. "Hinata-chan, I… I know why your father wants you to go back to Konoha so badly. It's not just because he hates my guts for being an Uzumaki and the harborer of Kyuubi, I know the _real_ reason. The reason Kakashi told me… it has to do with you."

Hinata's heart began to beat faster again, she was not liking the look in Naruto's eyes, it was scaring her. "Naruto? What's wrong?" She was scared now, she had no idea what was going on, but from the look Naruto was giving her, she was scared.

Naruto took several minutes before answering, "… alright, you know the seal on my stomach? The one my brother created to seal Kyuubi inside of me?" He waited for Hinata's answering nod, "Well… all those generations ago, when the Hyuugas asked for some of the Uzumaki's seals, they wanted one in particular. More so than the caged-bird seal. It was a modification of my seal, my clan thought that your clan had a demon they needed to trap so they could exorcise it. Well the thing is… this _demon_ that the Hyuugas wanted to trap was the very same demon that gave them the Byakugan, because they shared its blood. They couldn't exorcise it because if it disappeared they would lose their blood limit and therefore their power. So they had to trap it in a way that would ensure its existence throughout the centuries."

Hinata was breathing hard, she could hardly believe it, the fact that demon blood ran through her family was difficult to believe at all. But it was Naruto telling her it, she trusted him beyond rationality, and so deep down, she believed it.

Naruto slid his hands from holding hers up her arms, running them up and down her shoulders in a comforting gesture. He took a another shaky breath before continuing, "You see this wasn't a normal demon, it was a Youma, just like Kyuubi and Gaara's demon Shukaku. Kyuubi was the nine-tail and Shukaku was the one-tail, but this one was the Seven-tailed Cat, known as Shichubi, master of the Byakugan. The only way they could imprison her without losing their powers was by sealing her inside their own clan members, much like me, but this seal allowed no interaction of chakra between the vessel and the demon, and because Shichubi was the creator of the Byakugan and therefore in all Hyuuga blood, she couldn't be spotted by other Byakugan users, she was invisible to everyone but the Zenseigan. She was kept a secret that only the clan head family knew about, and that's how she was kept imprisoned, in the bodies of the Hyuuga clan heads, passed down to the first daughter after her mother would die from exhaustion from keeping Shichubi from escaping. It had to be women, men died instantly if they were sealed with Shichubi." Naruto paused, hesitating, he didn't want to, but he had gone way to far to turn back now, Hinata was staring at him, hanging on to his every word as comprehension slowly came to her eyes. "… your mother Hinata, she didn't die from sickness, she died because she was the last one to hold Shichubi, which means… which means…"

It hit her, feeling like a ton of bricks, leaving her numb. "…Which means, I'm the new holder of Shichubi, that's why father wants me back. So he can keep me away from everyone, because… _because_… I'm a… a…"

Naruto grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, knocking her out of her stunned numbness. His eyes seemed to glow unnaturally as he stared intensely into her eyes, "You-are-not-a-monster." Hinata could almost feel the cool breeze coming from his words. "If you are a monster then so am I. I don't see you as anything but Hinata, and the one I love most, Shichubi or not, I love you more than anything."

Hinata was still stunned by all this information. She had been lied to by her family her entire life and she had a demon inside of her, a demon that gave her entire clan the ability to use the Byakugan. She was merely a vessel in her father's eyes, that's why he never treated her with respect, never regarded her as a true daughter. She suddenly realized she was almost exactly like Naruto, and as much as that thought warmed her she began to cry.

Naruto quickly enveloped her in a protective and comforting embrace, he could feel her shake and sob against his chest as she cried and held onto him as she would a life-line. He was more than glad to be that life-line. He rubbed her back and shoulders, whispering sweet nothings into her ears, telling her it would be okay and that he loved her no matter what, and that he would _never _leave her side.

It seemed like hours, maybe it was, but Hinata had no more tears to cry. There was no more reason to cry over her fate, there was nothing she could do about it. But she did know one thing, she wasn't going back to her father, not after what he did to her and her mother, and not after knowing the truth of what he planned to do. She would stay here, with Naruto, as long as she was allowed to live.

"I'm going to die aren't I?" Hinata's voice cracked at the realization.

Naruto impulsively pressed her against him, he was having a hard time holding back his tears, he didn't want to think about that, but it was true. Hinata would die at a young age, most likely in her twenties because of the demon inside of her. Naruto began to cry, feeling ashamed that he would shed tears when it was Hinata who needed the support. "No… no… no. Not again… please."

Hinata began to cry again as well, and she had thought she couldn't anymore. She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him in closer to her, until there was no space between them. "I'm sorry Naruto… I'm so sorry." Here she was, going to die from a demon, not knowing whether she would ever marry Naruto or not. She began to giggle, getting a confused look from Naruto, "…and here I thought we you wanted to talk about sex. Or at least I was hoping for it." She wiped the tears from her face and bit her lip, "I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

Naruto's eyes widened, suddenly understanding why she was wearing a dress. He had ruined the night for her, she had come expecting them to talk about something important about their relationship, and he ruined it; pretty much telling her that she had no chance at a normal length of life. He berated his self for his denseness.

Hinata saw this and cupped his face in her hand, holding his hand with the other. "It's okay, thank you for telling me Naruto. Really, I'm just so sorry that… that I won't be around for you." Tears slowly streamed down her face. She threw herself at him, "I love you! And I know you don't want to yet, and I know that we won't get a chance to be married! But I just wanted you to know that I want you, I want to marry you, share a life with you… make love to you! And now I can't, and I'm so sorry!"

Something snapped inside Naruto, something so tangible that he could feel his heart skip a beat and nearly stop, then what ever snapped clicked into place, revealing the complete puzzle for his eyes to see. He pulled Hinata away from his shoulder, and kissed her trembling lips.

Hinata kissed him back as he slid his tongue into her mouth, her tears were still sliding down her face, but she kissed him back. Something changed though, he rose up on his knees as he began to kiss her more aggressively. There was no tentative gentleness, no innocent curiosity, just pure and utter adore. She began to shake as he gently laid her down underneath him, still kissing her more passionately than ever before.

She gripped his shoulders, pulling him down on top of her, holding him to her. He drew away only long enough for her to catch her breath and ask "Naruto? Wha…" And he was kissing her again. He pulled away again but before she could say anything he was running his lips down her jaw-line to where he could gently nibble on her ear. She was panting now, gasping in pleasure as he began to kiss her neck and nibble on her ears, kissing her face wherever there was a tear and kissing her lips so she could hardly breath.

The fire was burning like the sun inside of her, she didn't fight it this time though, she let go and allowed herself to be completely consumed by it. She could feel his hardness against her, and as he kissed her neck she slowly began to press and gently grind herself against him. She could feel his sudden intake of breath as she began to do so, he let out a small sigh as his breathing deepened.

He could feel the caged beast inside of him. It was fully awake and wanting out, it hungered and it wished to feed. Naruto undid the latch and could only stand there as the beast leaped out, tackling him and bringing him down with it. He began to move against Hinata, feeling her rhythm and matching it with his own. Her eyes became lidded and her mouth gaped slightly as a small moan escaped her lips.

Naruto began to kiss lower and lower, traveling down her shoulders, lingering on her collarbone, and on impulse pulling off her shoulder strap with his teeth. She obliged by pulling her arm through the strap, fully removing it. Naruto's heart thumped in his chest as he helped her remove the second strap. She looked at him, her eyes like liquid, longing for his touch. He felt her need and kissed the center of her chest, working his way down, he paused at the top of her dress, not sure if he should continue; but then he felt her hand on his head, gently pushing him down. He gripped her dress top with his teeth and slowly dragged it down to her waist.

He supported himself on his arms, it was different from the baths, this was very different. He slowly bent down, looking into her eyes the entire time, until he was millimeters from the top of her nipple. His tongue darted out, giving a tested lick. Hinata gasped and pressed herself harder against his arousal, which didn't seem to want to stop getting harder. She pressed on the back of his head. Holding him to her chest as he began to suck, lick, bite and do everything he could with his mouth to her. They watched each other's eyes the entire time.

His hands slid down of their own accord, grabbing hold of her skirt and dragging it up to her waist. She used the freedom of movement to wrap her legs around him and press him to her, they both gasped at the closeness of contact. She was hot and wet against him as he gently rubbed himself against her. Eyes closed and her mouth opened slightly, small whimpers began to escape her throat as he continued stroking her; he was beginning to enjoy those sounds.

He slowly dragged his tongue down her chest, past her belly and to her inner thigh. He kissed the cloth of her panties, and began nuzzling her, "ah…ah, N-Naruto-kun…!" She was sweet smelling, her want, her need… he could smell it. He gently reached up and started to slide off her only undergarment, she helped him, finally kicking it off with her foot.

Naruto bent back down, pausing before her, breathing in her scent. As before he, licked her, testing. She gasped loudly, "Naruto!" He loved hearing her say his name like that. He licked her, exploring, finding her hole and testing his tongue inside of it, she was shuddering from him doing that and biting her lip. He eventually found a small lump near the top, and tested it with his tongue. His head was suddenly gripped by both her hands as she moaned allowed, he allowed himself a small smile before going to work on that small hidden button of flesh.

She was soon rocking against his face, gripping his hair tightly, holding him there; her legs stretched and pulled, her stomach muscles clenched and unclenched, he could see that she was sitting up, her eyes closed, and her eyebrows drawn together causing lines of concentration to appear on her forehead. He became more vigorous in his licking, "ah… ah… ah gods!"

She began to breath heavily as the warmth in her groin and abdomen became overwhelming, and then suddenly exploded. "Naruto-kun!" The fire spread throughout her body, causing her stomach muscles to convulse at the same time as her back arched opening herself even more to him. Her hands gripped Naruto's hair so hard she nearly ripped it out. She stayed, frozen like that as the white burning fire coursed its way through her. Finally it slowly receded, and she collapsed, gasping for air.

Naruto sat up, easing himself out of her grip on his hair. He had never seen Hinata like that before, in the throes of pleasure, it made the beast within him roar. He was sure they had finished when Hinata suddenly sprang up and gripped his sweatpants, tearing them and his underwear off all at once so that he sat there exposed.

He had no time to do anything as Hinata gently rested her head on his stomach and gripped his length in her hand, drawing a gasp from him. She slowly slid her hand up and down his length, breathing heavily on him as he began to shudder and breath heavily, gripping her shoulders.

With her touching him and breathing on him it was too much, it was coming to fast. He gently gripped her shoulders and pushed her down onto her back, if she wanted more, then he would give her more.

He lay on top of her, holding himself up with his arms and rubbed himself against her, drawing a gasp from both of them, she was so warm, so moist, he began to shudder as he struggled for control over himself. "Hinata…" he breathed. She looked into his eyes, seeing a drowning man before her, a man barely keeping his head above the water. "Hinata… marry me." The question was so sudden that she didn't answer, "… Hinata?"

"Yes!" A single tear escaped and carved a path down her face. She whispered into his ear, "… yes. Yes I'll marry you… yes…" She spread her legs as far as she could and thrust her pelvis upward, presenting herself to him. "My Nine-tailed Fox."

He leaned down and breathed, "My Seven-tailed Cat." And thrust himself into her, breaking through the barrier in a sudden rush of moist warmth.

She breathed a long sigh of pain mingled with pleasure, at Naruto's look of worry she kissed him and began to rock back and forth. Naruto caught the hint that she was okay and caught her rhythm, slowly thrusting in and out of her. It was amazing, the feeling of closeness, the pure focus on the other's physical being. He had never felt this before, it was astounding how much he focused on her gripping him inside of her, unbelievable that he could hang on to every expression of pleasure and every moan of joy.

He slowly, but surely began to increase his speed… in and out… in and out. Faster and faster until he found his abdomen muscles burning and his breath coming in pants. He could see the look of utter bliss upon her face as she closed her eyes and said something over and over and over again. His mind wasn't working right anymore, every thought fuzzy and confused, he couldn't remember her name or his. "Hinata… Hinata…" Ah yes, that was it, he was the one saying that name over and over again, and she was saying his, no, yelling it, _screaming _it. Screaming for him to go faster, to push harder, and he felt himself obey her commands as a slave would obey his master.

It was coming, bigger this time, the flame in her belly was almost to hot to bear and Naruto only added to the fire with each and every thrust, she was beginning to wonder when it would explode, afraid of what would happen when it did, but wanting it all the same. He felt it too, a pressure, like a thousand pounds of force that continued to build and build as he thrust himself inside of her and as she gripped him tighter and tighter. She could hear an animal in the distance, howling and roaring none stop, little did she know that it was her.

Suddenly something happened, he could feel himself beginning to come, but he could feel the fire that was her as well suddenly explode, not as if he was realizing they were about to come together but as if he was _feeling_ both orgasms at once. Hinata was going through the same ordeal.

Naruto felt time slow down, _wha…what's happening?_

**_Hello little one._**

Naruto's blood went cold, _no… not now… please…_

_**Shut up, I'm here to help, and don't bother asking me why.**_

Naruto felt, more than saw, Kyuubi's chakra wind its way inside of Hinata and suddenly outline a pattern inside Hinata's belly. _Shichubi's seal_!

_**I'm going to help you this once Naruto. I'm going to help you without asking anything in return, just this once. So thank me, 'cause I'm going to save her for you.** _

…_**I wonder who it is sealed in here?**_

Naruto watched as the seal shifted, changing so that it matched his own seal perfectly, with openings that would allow Shichubi to meld with Hinata. Naruto realized what the fox was doing, he was making her like him…

…she was going to live.

He watched as pure white chakra leaked out of her seal and slowly began to mingle with his red, like oil mixing with water.

**_My God… its _her_…! _**

Time suddenly shifted back to normal, and Naruto and Hinata felt each other explode at the exact same time.

Time only _seemed_ to slow down this time, nearly stopping to their perspectives; their world became engulfed in red and white flame, and they new nothing more but each other. The world stopped for them, the universe halted for them and the heavens stood still, all marveling at the beauty of two souls joined as one. He was her, she was him, there was no beginning, no end, no time, nor world, just him, just her. Their skin was alive, electricity danced between them, leaving bodies to feel like live wires. His breath, her breath, his eyes, her eyes, his heart, her heart… their heart.

Their vision slowly cleared and they began to regain feeling in their bodies, slowly at first, but as the fires died down, they could start to gain a sense whether they were still alive or not.

He was laying on her, her arms wrapped tightly around him, there were red angry lines running down his back from her raking her claws down him in ecstasy, they were bleeding slightly, but he didn't care. She had a deep bite mark on the crook of her neck, bleeding wherehis fangs had broken skin. They watched each other's eyes as they turned from feral back to a normal human's.

They were sweaty, panting and sore beyond belief, but they were happy. Hinata had known what was going on when Kyuubi had entered her, using Naruto as an extension.

They hugged each other and laughed, and cried, and whispered sweet nothings to each other. Naruto cared for nothing else but holding his fiancé close to him. She was going to live, they were going to grow old together.

"Naruto!" Hinata whispered fiercely, "Look!"

Naruto glanced where Hinata was looking. His nightstand, holding a simple clay pot filled with dirt.

Ino's flower… had bloomed.

It was beautiful, Nine petals of metallic red, and seven petals of snow white, all with iridescent blue strips running across them. Naruto and Hinata watched it breathlessly as it slowly closed its bud. Naruto shook his head and smiled at Hinata, "Was it like that the entire time we…?"

Hinata nodded smiling and laughing, "I think so!"

Naruto kissed her then, "Guess we know how to get it to bloom again huh?" Hinata's eyes widened as she felt him against her, Naruto smiled and began to kiss her neck as she wrapped her legs around him.

And for the rest of their night, the only thing that existed was each other. They didn't count how many times Ino's homecoming gift bloomed that night.

* * *

**A/N: **Whew! one of my longer chapters, lots of gory details that I felt the need to put in there. Anyway, do not worry, like I said before stuff like this will only happen occasionally. Now please give me your reviews! I'm actually nervous this time, I don't know how well or how badly I did with this chapter.

**Chapter Preview:** Chaos, Blood and Death. The burning of their world.


	16. Funeral Pyre: Part One

Sorry guys, I didn't realize this part of the story was going to be so long, so I had to split it into segments, Hence the title Funeral Pyre:_ Part One_. Don't worry, Part Two will be up very soon.

And the reviews are kicking ass guys (and girls, especially the girls ;) I love'em, keep them coming, for I **HUNGER...**

Well not much else to say other than, EnJoY!

* * *

**Chapter 16: Funeral Pyre; Part One**

Sasuke stared at the monstrous trees surrounding him.

The jigokinu had stopped moving, they were now circling the large clearing, sniffing the ground in an attempt to find Naruto's scent.

Sasuke knew they were located somewhere above him. They had gotten here just over an hour ago and the sun was just rising, the jigokinu had told him that Naruto was somewhere around four-hundred feet above their heads. Sasuke had been surprised that the mutts could talk, but it was understandable, their bodies were controlled by demons that Orochimaru had summoned after all.

Sasuke had sent Zeek to scout ahead, he had come plummeting back to earth covered in fire. He somehow survived the fall, and was able to tell Sasuke that at four-hundred feet in the air he was able to see thousands of trap seals laid out all over the place, just before he stepped on one himself.

This was going to be harder than he thought, so he had sent the jigokinu to find Naruto's exact trail up the trees.

That had been an hour ago.

"What the hell is taking you two so long! You could smell Naruto from over two-hundred miles away, and now you can't find his trail?" Sasuke was beginning to lose his patience.

The jigokinu nearest him growled, "**His scent is all over the place master Sasuke. But if you want his exact trail to avoid blowing yourself up, I suggest you have a little more patience.**" Its voice sounded like dry bones snapping in two.

Sasuke was just about to retort and maybe even punish the impudent beast with the jigo-medallion when the jigokinu farthest away from him let out a long mournful howl. "**I've found it.**"

Sasuke smiled, nodding for the giant dog beast to lead the way. "Perfect."

* * *

Tsunade raced through the trees, her legs aching from running for two days straight, but she didn't pay attention to that, she had to reach the tree-house… she had to reach Naruto. 

They had been traveling like this for nearly a week now, running as long as they could then resting for a night before getting up to run again. Tsunade could tell they were close, just a couple more hours and they'd be there.

She just hoped that they weren't too late.

"He'll be fine until we get there Tsunade."

Tsunade turned to see Jaraiya skimming the ground at top speed right next to her. "I trust Naruto, Tsunade, and I know you do too. Even if we don't get there before Sasuke, Naruto can handle it until we get there. Plus, he's got his bodyguards, they'll help him." Jaraiya turned to look at her and smiled, "If you don't trust my words, then trust in him."

Tsunade nodded, "I just want to get there before Naruto has to handle anything himself, that's all."

Jaraiya nodded solemnly, "That would be best probably, if Sasuke was able to do that to over eleven squads of our scouting-nins, then Naruto will have his hands full. That would be bad."

Tsunade smirked, "See, you're worried about him too, I'm not the only one."

"No." Jaraiya's eyes took on a look of fear, true fear, something Tsunade hadn't seen from Jaraiya in a long time. "No, I'm not worried about Naruto. If Sasuke has gotten that strong, then Naruto will have to give more than he should to beat him. I don't worry about Naruto, I worry about Sasuke and everyone else around Naruto."

Tsunade felt cold inside, she realized that Jaraiya had trained with Naruto for three years, and therefore had seen things that she nor any of Naruto's previous teacher's could ever imagine from the blonde-haired loud mouth.

Kakashi came up on her other side, "Jaraiya is right, after all that's why I chose Naruto's bodyguards. Not only are they strong and capable, but they are his friends. If he were to lose control somehow, he'll need them there to bring him back." Kakashi frowned, "We should hurry, we're not that far now."

Tsunade nodded, the situation just became a lot worse in her eyes. Naruto _would_ be able to handle the situation, but… who would handle Naruto? "Lets move it." Tsunade pumped her legs harder, ignoring the cramp that was creeping into her thigh muscles.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes. 

The first thing she realized was that she was in the same bed as Naruto, no surprise there. Then she realized they both had no clothes on, she would have begun to panic if all the memories of last night didn't come rushing back to her. She let out a sigh of relief and smiled, remembering almost every single detail that had happened, from Naruto telling her about Shichubi, to them making love all night long.

She snuggled closer to the nude form of the not only the most beautiful thing in her life, but the sexiest as well. It felt good on a primal level, feeling her body pressed up against his without any clothes separating them, and it felt good on an emotional level, that there were no barriers between them anymore.

She suddenly remembered something that almost made her squeal with delight, She was going to get married! She was no longer just Naruto's girlfriend, she was his fiancé, and he, hers. He had asked her right before they…

She blushed, remembering how enjoyable the night had been, she understood now why Tenten was glowing all the time. She felt giddy and excited and had to bite her lip lest she waken the Greek god that slept right next to her. For that's what he looked like right then, with the sunlight hitting his hair so that it shone like spun gold, and reflecting off his skin, making him seem as if his muscles were carved from solid marble.

She ran her hand down those muscles, his abdomen more specifically, and found the muscles underneath the soft skin was not far from being as hard as stone. Naruto breathed deeply and sighed in his half-sleep causing Hinata to giggle. She slowly reached under the blanket that stopped at his waist, which after a moment of clever massage techniques, woke him up rather quickly.

"Mmmm… that feels good." Naruto's chest vibrated as a deep rumbling resonated from his chest. What Hinata was doing to him definitely felt extremely good.

Hinata frowned, "Are you _purring_?" Though it was extremely strange, Hinata couldn't help but laugh.

Naruto frowned, "Yeah… I am. Why is that? People can't _purr_." But he was, either way he looked at it, he was most definitely purring, not able to make himself stop as long as Hinata was doing as she was doing. Well not exactly a purr, not like a cat, more like a deep rumbling bass that you might here from a content dog or a…

Naruto felt goosebumps attack his body, what the hell was going on exactly?

He frowned as his purring stopped, and for a good reason, "Hey! You stopped." Hinata smiled a smile that Naruto had never seen on her face before, it was playful but more than that, it was mischievous and needy and wanting and lustful all wrapped into one. Naruto felt himself being turned on more than he already was as she slid into a position on top of him.

Naruto soon found out this was going to be a very enjoyable morning.

* * *

Sakura lay in her bed, her eyes wide open. She had not gotten _any_ sleep last night, thanks to a lot of loud noises coming from a room several floors above hers. 

Sakura wasn't totally sure that they would, but when they did she couldn't believe some of the noises she heard. The constant yelling and moaning was expected, but after the first time; because there were many, many times; she could hear what she _thought_ was growling, hissing and yells that sounded less human than animal.

Then she _knew_ she was hearing it when she heard, what she sure was Naruto, let loose a roar that reverberated through the entire tree-house complex, and literally vibrated her bed. They had been silent right after that, for a whole ten minutes and then they started again, and again, and again… and yet again.

She couldn't believe that they could keep going on like that. It was amazing, and Sakura felt a small bit of envy for Hinata, she had gotten very lucky finding Naruto. Now if only she were so lucky.

Sakura got out of bed, did her hair and dressed in some sweat-pants and a pink tank-top and headed up to the common room to share in the communal breakfast. Halfway up to the common room she heard someone start to yell the name Naruto, over and over again. Sakura paused for a moment, blushing like crazy, she didn't think she could take much more of this. She had never had sex before, and so didn't know if she would feel compelled to yell the name of her would be lover over and over again. But then again on second thought she had heard Neji and Tenten go at it, and they weren't much better than Naruto and Hinata.

Sakura found Neji, Tenten and Lee sitting together, sipping coffee, except none of them were sipping coffee. Neji was attempting to bury his face in his newspaper while Tenten listened to what was going on up stairs and was asking Neji some extremely embarrassing questions. "Do I sound like that Neji? How long do you think they've been going at it now? You know, I think Hinata is enjoying herself, don't you? Why…?"

Sakura grabbed a cup of coffee for herself, sitting across from Tenten. Both caught each other's eye and burst out laughing, causing Neji to nearly press his entire face into the newspaper. Lee wasn't much better, his entire face was red as he stared into his coffee as if he were attempting to discern the meaning of life from its dark, inky and French-vanilla smelling depths.

Sakura guessed both she and Tenten weren't much better off, they were just trying to face it with a good smile and laugh instead of hiding from it. This was so embarrassing, she was sure everyone felt like her when she felt like she was ease dropping, even though it was _them_ who were making enough noise for all to hear.

Lee shook his head, bringing himself out of his reverie, "I already have to deal with Neji and Tenten being right next door to me, now this, and they're almost louder, especially… Neji did you hear it last night?"

Neji had his face hidden, but everyone could see his nod, "Lee, I don't think anyone _didn't_ hear it."

Lee sat back and adopted a look of disbelief, "I thought we were being attacked by a giant lion last night, I had rushed out of my room but by the time I came close to Naruto and Hinata's room I realized that the roar or whatever it was had come from Naruto." Lee covered his eyes with his free hand, he apparently hadn't gotten any sleep last night either, "I tip-toed back to my room, and spent the night trying to turn off my sense of hearing out of pure embarrassment."

Sakura sighed, "I think we all went through the same thing last night, I'd ask them to move to the other side of the tree-house, except for the fact that we can't. We might as well ask them to be quieter next time."

Everyone tensed, no one was up to taking on that embarrassing task. Sakura shrugged, "Of course, I could ask the same of you and Neji, Tenten. You guys are almost as loud, and your higher up than Naruto and Hinata, and therefore farther from me, and I can _still_ hear you." Sakura smiled in content as Tenten blushed and began looking over Neji's shoulder at the newspaper in an attempt to hide her face as well.

Lee burst out laughing and gave a thumbs up to Sakura, smiling one of his smiles that only he could do, the ones that not even Gai-sensei could duplicate. "That was a good one Sakura-chan! Hahaha! I agree with Sakura-chan on this, Neji-san and you should try a bit of peace and quiet for once. I swear, ever since you two got engaged its been almost every night non-stop, and you Neji-san complain about Naruto and Hinata being over-excessive!" Lee was surprised that Neji could still bury his face deeper into his paper than it already was.

Sakura smiled back at Lee, feeling a small twinge in her heart. She was starting to notice the slight differences between him and the sensei he tried so hard to mimic, she knew she was falling for him, hard. Everyday she fell faster and faster, and she didn't know how to make herself stop, she didn't know what would happen when she caught up with the part of her heart that was falling for Sasuke. She didn't even know if that part of her was still falling for him or not.

She got up to refill her coffee, she didn't want to think about it right then. Halfway to the kitchen she realized that the sounds from above had stopped, she shook her head in disbelief, _they go all night, and they still find energy in the morning._ She wouldn't be surprised if they went at it again now.

Amazingly though, as she sat down next to Lee she heard a shower from Naruto's room start up.

_Finally! A break.

* * *

_

Naruto took his shower first, he had wanted Hinata to join him in the shower, but apparently she was having difficulty standing on her legs, they were a bit… wobbly. So he decided to take his shower first and allow Hinata to recuperate enough to walk properly again before she took her shower.

Naruto took a nice long hot shower, and finally exited the bathroom, drying his hair and pretty much nude except for a towel covering his lower regions. Hinata strode by him into the bathroom, ripping off his towel and smacking him in the ass with it, "You look better like that."

Naruto could see she was swaying her hips on purpose as she entered the bathroom. Naruto shook his head and chuckled, using the towel he had been using on his hair to dry the rest of his body. He got changed in black pants and an orange t-shirt, strapped on his training gear and as he left the room to head down to the common room, he couldn't help but wonder that there was something different about him. A lot different.

He entered the common room to everyone looking at him silently for about two seconds and then grinning knowingly and turning back to whatever they were doing. Naruto turned a little pink at the grins, but then shrugged his shoulders and got some breakfast, which consisted of six bowels of chicken-flavored ramen and a jug of milk.

Everyone stared as he scarffed down his bowels of noodles and then drank the entire gallon of milk in one swig.

Neji raised an eyebrow after he was done, the entire process must of taken only ten minutes, probably less. "Hungry, Naruto-san?"

Naruto shrugged, "I don't know what's up with me, seriously, I haven't eaten ramen like that ever since I was twelve, and I kind of been staying away from milk, unless its in a cereal bowel, ever since I had a 'episode' with a carton of bad milk when I wasn't even a genin yet. But man! This morning, I come down here and all I can think about is as much food I could put in my stomach, and _milk_, I couldn't stop thinking about milk. I felt like puppy or something, I just really wanted some milk."

Tenten also raised an eyebrow, mimicking Neji's expression almost perfectly, "You definitely didn't sound like a puppy last night."

Naruto started coughing non-stop until Lee came up and slapped his back, slamming him into the ground. Naruto groaned, "…ow…"

Lee helped Naruto back up onto the couch, "Sorry about that my friend, I didn't mean to strike you so hard." Naruto shook his head, still unable to speak from the lack of air in his lungs, and instead gave Lee a thumbs-up.

Naruto sat back up and smiled weakly at everyone, "Uh, sorry about last night, I guess I was, uh, _we_ were a little loud."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "A _little_ loud? Naruto, my bed _shook_ because you were so loud, seriously." Tenten, Neji and Lee all nodded there heads as one, confirming that they had experienced the same thing.

Naruto grimaced, "Sorry guys, really. We'll, uh, be more quiet next time I guess."

Sakura and Lee nodded, "Yes, please." They both gave pointed looks at Neji and Tenten as well. Naruto couldn't help but laugh.

After a moment Neji frowned, looking at the ceiling of the common room, towards Naruto's bedroom. "Hinata's been out of the shower for at least twenty minutes, what's taking her so long?"

Naruto shrugged, but got up and jogged towards the door, he yelled over his shoulder just as he rounded the door "I'll be right back guys!"

Naurto jogged up the ramp to his room. Stopping at the door to knock, he knew that he surprised Hinata easily sometimes, scaring the daylights out of her; which he couldn't understand, because she had the Byakugan; he guessed she didn't use as much as Neji. "Hey, Hinata? Everyone is wondering what's taking so long for you to come down and eat breakfast, we can't go and train until you eat!"

No answer came from the other side of the door. "Hinata?… Hinata!" Naruto frowned and opened the door, the room was in shadows because the window shades were closed, he could see Hinata's form, curled up on the bed and covered in the blankets.

"Hinata? What's wrong?" Naruto slowly began to pull off the blankets, and then quickly tore them off. It wasn't Hinata, it was a bunch of pillows arranged in the shape of a human.

"_Hello_, Naruto…"

Naruto felt his blood freeze, and his heart stop. He recognized that voice, he'd recognize it anywhere, no matter how much it had changed over the years. Naruto turned around slowly, his heart beating in his chest like a jack-hammer.

At first there was nothing to see, then the opened bathroom door was closed shut by the person standing behind it.

_"Sasuke…!"_

He had grown taller, a lot taller, he was the same height as Naruto, if not a few centimeters more. He wore a black trench-coat that came to about mid-shin, the trench was sleeveless, exposing his shoulders, and the black tattoos he had there. He had both of his arms wrapped in bandages, with a belt wrapped around the bandages, like he had on his arm when he first used Chidori, except now he had them on both arms. He wore a dark purple belt, Orochimaru's color, around his neck he wore a silver chain with a bone pendant that looked like a tooth from a dog. Most astonishing was his face, if it weren't for his hair that he kept in the same style as three years ago, except longer, Naruto would have mistook him for Itachi. His face was the same, his posture the same, and his eyes, with the Sharingan already activated, held the same lifeless uncaring that Naruto remembered seeing in Itachi's.

In front of Sasuke, kneeling, was Hinata. She was gagged, both of her arms tied behind her, and her ankles tied together with bed sheets. In his hand was a kunai knife, positioned in a downward stabbing motion. He was holding it up, ready to plunge it home.

Naruto felt himself start to panic, "Sasuke! Let her go! NOW!"

Sasuke smiled, a look that made Naruto's skin crawl, "Oh no Naruto, I don't think you're in the position to be giving me orders. Not like it would matter, I just wanted you to be here to see the death of Neji's cousin." Sasuke bent down slowly so that his mouth was right next to Hinata's ear, keeping his gaze on Naruto the entire time, "Say good-bye to Naruto Hinata-chan." Sasuke stood up, bringing the kunai above his head as Hinata began to cry.

Naruto realized, for some reason Hinata couldn't move. Everything slowed as Sasuke brought the kunai downwards. He wasn't going to make it, he had his leg-weights on, he was too slow, she was going to die and there was nothing he could do.

Naruto started to move without thinking, almost as if an idea was coming to mind, but his body was acting before it even got there. Naruto whipped out his kunai letting it go at the same time he drew it, flinging it sideways towards the door, not enough time to throw it at Sasuke. At the same time he reached for his kunai Naruto activated his Zenseigan, and saw the glowing seal on Hinata's finger, the seal he had carved into the ring he had given her while she was in the hospital.

He activated it.

Sasuke swung down, too fast for anyone, even standing next to him, to do anything about.

He hit nothing but air.

Sasuke's eyes widened, Hinata had just _disappeared_. There was no way anyone could move that fast, his Sharingan couldn't even see it. _No one _could move that fast. Sasuke looked up, there at the door, stood Naruto holding Hinata with one arm, his other hand on a strange three-pronged kunai sticking out of the doorframe. "What the hell did you just do."

Naruto had trouble figuring out what had happened. He had activated Hinata's ring, and he was just there, right next to her. He hadn't sped over there, or was even teleported, he could tell, he would have at least felt some movement, but he was just there already with his arms around Hinata, and within a space of literally no time at all Naruto activated the seal on his brother's kunai that he had thrown at the door. He felt slightly dizzy, from it, it couldn't be called fast because there was no movement, he was just _there._ He had no other way of explaining it.

He shook his head, clearing it, and pulled the kunai out of the doorframe, cutting Hinata's bonds in one swipe. Hinata jumped up and hugged him, "Naruto! I'm so sorry, I got dressed and then he was just _there_. I didn't know what was happening until I was tied up and gagged. He told me that he was using me as bait for you to come up alone, and the only reason he didn't kill me right away was because he wanted to have you see me die." She began to cry, but after a moment stopped.

She was glaring now, "He was going to kill you after he killed me. He did something with his Sharingan, I couldn't move or make any noise at all, I think it was genjutsu."

Naruto hugged Hinata to him, glaring over her shoulder at the from of Sasuke, who was coolly staring at them, measuring them and taking in everything he was seeing. Naruto could see he wasn't concerned one bit, "Hinata can you move now?" Hinata shook her head, Naruto could see she was barely able to stand on her legs.

Naruto took her outside and sat her down, giving her a kunai knife, "Once you can move again, don't come and help me, go get Neji and the others." Naruto didn't wait for an answer before turning around and heading back into the room.

Sasuke smirked, "I don't know how you did that Naruto, you've apparently become stronger over the few years we've been apart." Sasuke's eyes widened as he noticed Naruto's eyes, "A blood limit." He chuckled dryly, "This is going to be more fun than I thought."

Naruto glared, an animalistic growl escaping his throat, he paid it no heed. "First you betray the leaf, then you leave behind Sakura-chan, _then_ you come back, looking to kill me and instead try to kill the love of my life." Naruto ground his teeth as the irises around his white star-bursts turned from blue to blood red.

"Lets do this."

* * *

Sakura rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically, "What the hell is taking them so long? Don't tell me their doing it _again_ and actually being quiet about it!" Sakura was getting antsy, she wanted to complete the days training so she could take a nice long soak in the dojo baths, after last night she and Tenten really wanted to have a nice long chat with Hinata. 

Neji grunted, "I uh, could check you know…" Everyone turned to him with questioning glances, Neji put up his hands in defense, "I mean just really quick, if their doing what we think they're doing we can just go on without them, and if not then I'll go up and get them."

Sakura shrugged, "Fine. Sounds good to me, I just want to get to training. Its Naruto's and Hianta's fault if they get rusty."

Neji nodded and quickly activated his Byakugan, looking through the roof towards Naruto's room. Neji paused, then frowned.

Neji suddenly jumped up, "What the FUCK!" Causing everyone else to jump.

Tenten put her hand over her fast-beating heart, Neji had surprised all of them, "Neji…?"

"Its Sasuke!"

Everyone froze, it took them a moment to comprehend what Neji was talking about. Sakura felt her insides frost over, _no!…no, no ,no, no, no…_ Sakura's heart sped up and her breathing became heavy, Sasuke couldn't be here, not now.

Neji was still staring at the ceiling, "Naruto's fighting Sasuke, we have to get up there, now!"

Sakura snapped herself out of her daze, and followed Neji, Tenten and Lee towards the door. Sasuke was here. He was fighting Naruto. She had to save them, both of them.

But before any of them were able to reach the door, an explosion erupted behind them. Sakura turned with the others to see a ten-foot hole in the side of the common room wall, and within the clearing haze crouched something that at first appeared to be a lion or some sort of big cat, but at closer inspection it appeared to be more dog than anything else, or it used to be anyway.

Sakura realized it, whatever it was, had run through the wall as it stood up on all fours and shook the debris off of itself. It stared at them with empty eye sockets and opened its mouth to let out a piercing howl that sounded like it was crying. It then growled and began to stalk closer, looking very much like a tiger on the prowl, "**Hello children, I'm sorry, but my master has ordered me to kill all of you without torturing you. I apologize that you won't be able to experience all the pain of dying.**"

Sakura felt fear spike into her heart, the creature could speak, but worse was the way it voice sounded, like someone was walking over a pile of dry bones that snapped under every step. It was now, with the creature only a few feet away that Sakura could make out its features.

It was bigger than a lion, probably more the size of a grizzly bear, but it was far more frightening for its other features. It really did have empty eye sockets, but Sakura could _feel_ it staring at them as if it could see them anyway, it probably could. It's fur was short and the color of rust, its paws looked more like a cats than a dogs, complete with retractable claws. As it cleared the haze of the wreckage and fully came into the open, she and everyone else gasped. It was covered in giant overlapping plates what looked like bone armor that ran down its back and stuck out at its shoulders and hips. Behind it swung a snake-like tail, that was twice as long as the beasts body, but it was skinless and without any flesh, it was as if its spine elongated and thrust itself through the back, it was all bare bone with a long boney spike at the end that dripped a mucus-colored liquid. Most horrifying of all was its dog-like head, it was shaped like a pit bulls with a monstrous under-bite, but it had no skin on it like the tail, but it did have flesh. Sakura felt herself become slightly nauseas at the sight, the exposed flesh of the head matched the color of the fur perfectly, except for the fact that the head was constantly dripping blood, and because it had no floor to its bottom jaw, its elongated tongue hung through its jaws limply, dripping yellowish drool and swinging from side to side as it walked towards them.

Sakura glared and felt her resolve returning, _I have to save them._ She turned to face the others, "Go and help Naruto! I'll handle this thing!" Neji hesitated only a moment before nodding and grabbing Tenten to follow him, he had seen the determination in Sakura's eyes.

After Neji and Tenten left, Sakura noticed Lee still standing there, already in ready stance, his leg-weights off and laying on the floor next to him. He gave Sakura a pointed look, "Do not even bother to tell me to leave Sakura-chan. I am not leaving your side."

Sakura couldn't help let a small smile escape her lips, even in a situation like this she found Lee's resolve to stay with her… sweet, and she felt herself warmed by it. She quickly felt as if she could take on anything in the world, even this nightmarish beast. She nodded to Lee and turned to face the approaching menace.

"Alright Lee-san, lets do this."

* * *

Neji and Tenten raced along the ramp, running as fast as possible towards Naruto's room. 

Neji caught movement out of the corner of his eye, he grabbed Tenten and together they hit the decks as the wall next to them exploded into splinters.

Neji got up slowly as a figure jumped down in front of them, Tenten stood up next to him, reaching for her weapons that she always kept on her. She paused as she saw the attacking figure clearly. "Neji I recognize him from somewhere."

Neji nodded, "As do I, I don't remember who he is exactly, but I do know he is our enemy, and from his garb I'd say he's a sound nin." The ninja before them was dressed in the gray robes of the sound, and wore the large purple rope-belt that was customary on Orochimaru's soldiers. He wore a mask that obscured his facial features, except for his eyes, and he wore heavy gauntlets on his wrists, one was humming and was emitting a curved blade of energy that was… colorless was the only word Neji could think of, it hit him that the gauntlets were changing his chakra into sound energy. His uniform was badly burned, Neji guessed he had run into a trap seal, but that didn't explain how he gotten up here.

The ninja raised his other arm, the one without the energy-blade, "Hello Neji-kun, Tenten-chan, you probably don't know me except by name, but I know _all_ about you two. You might remember me as Zeek."

Neji's eyes narrowed, "The sound genin that tried to kill Naruto. Your still alive." Neji smirked, "I'd say I was impressed, except you're about to die now."

Zeek laughed, "You fool, I am not Zeek the genin, I am Zeek the _elite_ jounin." And as zeek said that, black markings began to burn their way across his skin, starting from his left side and traveling to the right. Zeek smiled, "Activate your Byakugan Neji-kun, you'll need it."

Neji turned to Tenten, "We'll take him together, then we'll help Naruto, I get the feeling he won't let either of us pass just yet."

Tenten nodded, and glared at the glared at the gloating Zeek, he had come and ruined the peace they had been sharing for over eight months now. He would pay for trying to kill Naruto.

Tenten kept her gaze on Zeek but spoke to Neji, "Let's do this."

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke circled each other, striking and blocking at a blinding rate, spinning and dodging, throwing punches that were either dodged or blocked and then followed by a counter attack, and the pattern continued. The room was quickly turning into a disaster area, it was too small a space, so each time a blow missed, they would hit the wall, leaving dents or hit a piece of furniture and break it in two. 

Naruto grabbed one of Sasuke's punches and hurled him into a wall, throwing him through it and into the bathroom. Naruto charged and leapt through the hole, aiming a flying kick at Sasuke's head, Sasuke dodged it and grabbed his leg and swung him, slamming him headfirst into the toilet, shattering it. Nartuo found himself picked up bodily and slammed into the bathroom walls, he felt like a ping-pong ball, back and forth, back and forth, each hit knocking more and more of the air out his lungs. Finally Sasuke threw him through the bathroom door, except Naruto went through it sideways, taking out the door-frame with his head and feet.

Naruto pushed himself up slowly, dazed as he watched Sasuke step through the wreckage of what used to be the bathroom. Naruto gathered his energy and kicked a chair at Sasuke, who jumped over it easily, but Naruto had run towards him after kicking the chair and kicked him in midair. Sasuke went flying again through a wall but this time to the outside where he found himself flying over the rail, he grabbed the rail at the last second and swung himself around, kicking a surprised Naruto through the hole he had just come out of.

Naruto could feel Kyuubi's chakra trying to fight its way out, but he couldn't allow it, if he lost his head now, he didn't know what would happen. But either way, his whisker marks had widened and his canines had sharpened slightly, he was angry enough that he was beginning to access Kyuubi's chakra anyway.

Naruto stepped back outside through the hole he threw Sasuke, and Sasuke had kicked him back through. Naruto breathed in deeply, steadying himself, and then attacked again. This time it was more dangerous, for there was a four-hundred foot drop right next to them.

Hinata watched from a little ways up the ramp, this was like watching Naruto and Lee spar, it was that fast. Their legs and fists were just blurs in the air, blocking and striking, over and over again, non-stop. Naruto needed help, from what he had told her about his experiences with Kyuubi, he was starting to lose control, she had to help him beat Sasuke somehow. She stood up, feeling the movement return to her legs as she felt her determination return.

But just as she was about to use her jyuuken arrow, a familiar figure jumped in front of her, between her and Naruto. She recognized him for who he was, he wore gray robes and a large purple belt, he had tow katanas strapped to his back and purple-striped skull mask hid his entire face, he was the jounin who had was sent to kill Naruto at the chuunin exams.

"Hello little girl, do you remember me? You can call me Duseto, though it won't matter, for you are about to die." Duseto reached over his shoulders and drew both of his katanas.

Naruto saw what was going on and in desperation, grabbed Sasuke and threw him through the wall again, creating another hole to his room. "Hinata!"

Hinata looked at him, past Duseto, "Naruto, you take care of Sasuke, I can handle Duseto." She could see the hesitation on his face, "Trust me!" for a moment it looked as if Naruto would refuse and try and take on Duseto and Sasuke at once, but he nodded his head and jumped through the hole to his room, to face Sasuke.

Hinata returned her attention to Duseto, "You think you can beat me, but you don't know anything me."

Duseto laughed, a hollow sound, "I know everything about you Hyuuga Hinata, your Byakugan, your jyuuken, even your jyuuken arrow. I've studied your techniques, you don't stand a chance against me." Duseto smiled arrogantly, "Now die like a good little girl."

Hinata smirked back just as arrogantly, "You apparently have no idea what has happened to me over the past eight months. I've changed in more ways than one, you're the one who doesn't stand a chance Duseto. You are the one who will die."

Duseto gave pause, this wasn't right, from his studies Hyuuga Hinata was supposed to be weakling little girl, an easy kill for him. He figured she'd give up right then and there, but here was the same girl standing before him, full of confidence, telling him _he_ would be the one to die.

Hinata turned and ran yelling over her shoulder, "Catch me if you can!" She allowed him to nearly grab her before giving off a burst of speed so sudden and great that she was mere blur to Duseto's eyes as she ran up the ramp away from him. She thanked the heavens her legs were working again.

Duseto gave chase, figuring she was trying to escape. He was sure now she had been bluffing, she was fast, but he was bigger and probably had more endurance, he'd catch her eventually.

Hinata had no intention of running away though, she had to get Duseto away from Naruto so he wouldn't be distracted. She didn't want to do this, but she had to get to the dojo as quickly as possible, Duseto would follow her and she would fight him there.

She was heading for the zip-lines, something she had avoided since her first ride on one during her first week here, but they were fast. Plus the zip-line leading to the dojo was the only one with two handle bars, she prayed that Duseto would give chase.

She was a lot faster than Duseto and reached the look-out tower long before he did. She grabbed the handle bars that led to the dojo, the only zip-line she had been on, and watched as clasps folded around her hands to keep her from falling out. She waited until Duseto topped the ramp and could see her, "You're slow old man, go back to watching TV and eating potato chips!" She pushed off, hoping her jest was enough to get him to follow her.

She didn't have to worry, she watched behind her as Duseto began to strap himself to the other pair of handle bars that lead to the dojo. Hinata returned her attention to trying to survive the zip-lines as she reentered the tree branches.

Finally after many bone-wrenching turns and gut-twisting drops, she finally landed on the platform that lead into the dojo. She could hear whirring of another zip-line approaching close behind her. She didn't bother looking back and descended the stairs into the dojo, she grabbed a naginata from its stand against the wall and waited.

She prayed for Naruto, she prayed for Neji and Tenten and Lee and Sakura. She prayed that all of them would somehow make it through this. But then she stopped praying, she came to the conclusion that if she really wanted to make sure that Naruto survived this day she had to defeat her enemy.

Hinata waited until Duseto entered, seeing her with a weapon he drew both of his katanas again.

Hinata growled, feeling something burning, like white fire leaking from her stomach to the rest of her body. She didn't notice the lengthening of her canines and nails and the single whisker mark that appeared on each side of her face, she only thought of saving Naruto.

She let loose an earth shattering roar, but didn't take notice or just didn't care, her attention was entirely focused on the enemy in front of her, like a lioness focusing on her prey.

"Let's do this."

* * *

Okeedokee. Got everyone started on their fights, more butt-kick action in the next chapter! But what of the second Jigukinu you ask? I dunno, guess you gotta wait... :) Whew, the suspense is killing _me_ and I'm writing this story.

Anywho, like I said before I **HUNGER**! So feed me your reviews! Are any of them lemon-flaovred?

**Chapter Preview:** Hinata's true power, and Naruto says goodbye to Kyuubi. And does Sakura really have to say goodbye for good?


	17. Funeral Pyre: Part Two

Okay, I hate to do this to you guys, but I have decided to Funeral Pyre a trilogy, man I didn't realize how long it would be! Never fear though, Funeral Pyre Part Three will be up very soon, (Like tommorrow or the next day)

Oh I forgot to thank all of you for liking my first ever lemon scene. It meant alot to me, though I didn't get any PMs from you girls asking for illicit services. :Sigh: been too long without a girlfriend. I hate moving, I like the house though, just don't like not seeing people I know. Though from your reviews, alot of you girls, at least I think you're girls, enjoyed my lemon scene:winks: Oh well, enough of my sob story, I just wanted to let anyone know who isn't versed in japanese-weaponry (shame on you) that a naginata is a japanese glaive, its a long pole with a big as blade at the end, it rules. Oh and if you don't know what a katana is then you suck hairy nuts.

More news! if any of you didn't notice, my last chapter was the two month anniversary of this story, woot!

Alright, enough of my ranting! Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 17: Funeral Pyre; Part Two**

Duseto wasn't understanding this, all his research on this particular target had told him she was under-trained and would be easy to handle, he should've already been with Zeek, helping him to defeat the Hyuuga boy and the Tenten girl.

But instead he was here fighting with a supposedly easy target, who was forcing _him_ to stay on the defensive. He had never witnessed such ferocity, even with his double katana expertise, he was having trouble finding an opening for an attack.

Hinata didn't think, she acted. She twirled the naginata around her body, staving off any attacks Duseto was able to get off, and attacking with blade and pole-end in rapid succession. He was good, blocking all of her attacks with his two katanas, but he was tiring, she could sense it, _smell_ it. She however was not.

She couldn't explain it, she was the one on the offensive, charging and striking with a rapidness and aggressiveness that could only be described as the intent to kill, and yet, she was no more tired than if she had jogged for about thirty seconds. So she didn't try to explain it, she instead focused on her goal, to get to Naruto as quickly as possible.

Duseto watched as the Hyuuga girl backed off only to let loose another bone-shaking roar and charge again. He was starting to get nervous, she shouldn't have been able to keep going for this long, especially the way she was attacking, but she was moving still as if they had just begun to fight. Not to mention the fact that she was changing, through all the whirling blades Duseto was able to notice her features were not the same when they started this battle.

She acted like an animal, a well coordinated and viscous animal. When she snarled he could see that her canines were longer and sharper than a normal humans, she had scratched him several times already with nails that looked like claws, and she was getting stripes all over body. She was wearing a pair of short shorts and a white spaghetti strap, so Duseto could see stripes that were slightly darker than her normal skin tone crawling across her shoulders, legs and even her face. And then there were her eyes, she hadn't activated her blood limit yet, which worried him to no end, but she had no irises anymore, she already had no pupils, but now both of her eyes were completely white and were so bright they nearly glowed.

This wasn't good, if he didn't do something soon, she was going to remember she had a blood limit soon, and when she did this fight would be over. He pushed her weapon and her away with his katanas and jumped back, releasing his curse seal. Geometric patterns began to burn their way across his skin, and purple chakra began to erupt from his body in staggering amounts. "Alright little girl, this isn't going to be enough to beat you, so you're going to be the first to see my level two."

Hinata charged at the same time that Duseto's curse seal took over his entire body and changed his physical form.

Hinata felt more than saw the strike and on pure instinct dodged to the side as the katana sliced the air right next to her… _so fast!_ He had indeed increased in speed, and strength, for where the katana missed the floor was destroyed where it hit, splintering the giant floorboards like twigs. She turned around to get a better view of his new body, that's when she realized how big he truly had become.

He had to be at least eight feet tall, with two monstrous spikes sticking out of his back that made him seem more like ten feet tall. White dreadlocks spilled forth from behind his skull mask, and his eye sockets glowed with a purple light. That's when Hinata realized how big his katanas had truly gotten, they were huge, easily as wide as she was tall, and far longer than Duseto's eight foot tall frame. The fact that he could even pick them up was amazing. "**Alright little girl, you want to go all demonic on me, then I guess I should do the same, its common courtesy you know. Now if you will my lady… _DIE_!**"

Hinata had hardly enough time to focus her chakra into her feet and jump as Duseto brought both of his mega-katanas into a scissor-like motion that was meant to split her in half. The pure force of the wind caused by the swing was enough to disintegrate the floor she had just been standing on into splinters. Physical attacks weren't going to work on him anymore, he was too strong, and way too fast. Hinata began to fire off jyuuken arrows like a machine gun.

Duseto roared in pain, but the arrows of chakra were like pinpricks that pierced his rock-like skin. He charged again, attempting to slice or even crush the little nuisance. She jumped over him, flipping through the air and firing jyuuken arrows at his back. He turned around, swinging his katanas as hard as he could, again she jumped out of the way firing more jyuuken arrows. This was getting annoying.

Hinata had to think fast, this wasn't going to work forever, the arrows were having almost no effect on him, and he would eventually hit her. She had to take him down, and fast. She was really in a bad situation, she was hitting all his chakra holes, but he was emitting so much chakra that they almost immediately reopened, and he just ignored the injuries she inflicted on his muscles, tendons and organs.

Hinata paused, shocked, which happened to be a bad idea on her part, Duseto's next swing came so close to her face that the resulting backlash wind form the attack sent her flying to crash into a distant wall. She slowly got up as Duseto slowly advanced, chuckling to himself, and apparently thinking it was over. But it wasn't, Hinata realized she could see Duseto's inner-coil system, and she could see in all directions, but she hadn't even activated her Byakugan yet.

It still wasn't activated, what the hell was going on?

Then Naruto's words came back to her, _"…Shichubi, the Seven-tailed Cat, **Master** of the Byakugan…"_ She looked at herself and realized that Shichubi's chakra was beginning to leak through her newly modified seal. That explained a lot, from her never ending endurance to the ferocity of her attacks, and it explained what was happening with her Byakugan. Hinata took a deep breath, prayed and activated her Byakugan.

Duseto stopped, noticing the veins behind Hinata's eyes standing out, _Shit_. Duseto charged, bringing both of his katanas over his head in preparation of downward blow that would destroy the annoying Hyuuga pest.

Hinata watched calmly, watching the futility of Duseto's actions. He didn't realize what had just transpired, she decided to end this as quickly as possible, she had to get to her Naruto. Hinata turned her back on Duseto, heading for the door, and with a flick of her wrist… stopped his heart.

Duseto, stutter stepped, then dropped to one knee, dropping one katana and grabbing his chest where his heart would be, a look of agony upon his face. He still reached with his other katana, swinging it around to slice the little bitch in half.

Hinata saw it easily, the fool's chakra made his skin almost impenetrable, but none of his chakra was focused on protecting his insides. She could now _feel_ the chakra flowing within his body, and she could manipulate it anyway she wanted, this was the true power of the unbeatable Byakugan. Hinata paralyzed his arm, causing him to drop the sword in mid-swing. Then ran through the door towards the central tree, leaving Duseto to die.

Duseto had only a few moments to realize what had just happened as his body slowly returned to normal. He was beaten by a child, an extremely powerful child, if she was the weakest as his studies had told him, then Zeek didn't stand a chance, and he wasn't so sure about Uchiha Sasuke either. Duseto's last thoughts were that he wouldn't have to worry about facing punishment from Orochimaru, how could he punish someone who was already dead?

Duseto chuckled as his world went dark.

* * *

Lee kicked the beast in the side of the head. 

It didn't so much as budge, Lee found himself flying through the air once again as the jigokinu slapped him with a monstrous paw. Lee couldn't understand it, the monster didn't even try to dodge, he couldn't tell if he was too fast for it, or whether it just didn't care, after all none of his attacks so far had even scratched it.

Sakura was also having no luck, she had told Lee that every time she hit it, the blast of chakra she emitted would do nothing. The ground the jigokinu stood on should have cracked at least from the force of Sakura's blows. But it was like she was doing nothing at all.

The jigokinu laughed, a dry wheezing sound, "**Your attempts are valiant, I'll admit, but utterly futile. You can not beat me, plain and simple, even your Hokage would be destroyed by my power. How can two simple ninjas defeat me? The answer is simple, you can't. So please lets make this simple, lay down and play dead.**" The jigokinu charged, extending its claws.

Lee made the decision that the jigokinu was not dodging his attacks because it was slow, this thing was just as fast as him. And it was going for Sakura-chan. Lee leapt towards Sakura, pushing her out of the way as the hellhound collided with him.

Sakura got up, she couldn't see what had happened, other than Lee had pushed her out of the way as the jigokinu charged at her with blinding speed. "Lee!" Sakura stood up, the jigokinu had its back to her, she couldn't see Lee. "Lee!"

The jigokinu turned around and brought its whip-like tail around in front of it.

Impaled on the end of the spear-point tip of its tail was Lee, the tail driven through his abdomen and clear out to the other side. "**Is this what you were looking for little girl?**" The jigokinu chuckled and whipped its tail, sending Lee flying towards Sakura.

Sakura caught Lee and laid him down, checking his pulse. He was still alive! Sakura completely ignored the looming beast only a few meters away and began to put all her energy into healing Lee's wound. It only took a moment with the amount of chakra she was pouring out, but Lee's wound closed almost magically, not leaving behind a mark.

Lee opened his eyes, and saw Sakura's crying face, he so wanted to stop those tears from flowing, if only he knew why she was crying. He tried to sit up slowly, and was suddenly wracked with coughing that caused him to spit up thick half-dried chunks of blood.

"Lee!" Sakura gabbed hold of Lee, pumping more healing chakra into him, trying to find what she had missed in her healing. She hadn't missed anything, then why…?

"**Its useless girl.**" Sakura looked up at the dreadful sound of the jigokinu's voice. "**You can do nothing for him now, my poison will kill him, there is no cure for it, for it is a spiritual poison. Though it looks like it is affecting his body, my poison is actually slowly destroying his soul. He will die, just as you will.**" The jigokinu slowly began to stalk closer.

Sakura began to cry, there were no chemistry tools at hand to make an antidote, though right now she didn't have the time to do so. She held Lee to her, the monster was right, she _was_ going to die, just as Lee was, she had fooled herself into believing she could help Naruto and Sasuke, especially Sasuke, she had fooled herself for nearly four years now that she could help him. "Lee, I'm so sorry… you're going to die because I can't help you, and I'm going to die too." Sakura looked down at the stunned expression on Lee's face, "I'm sorry, I just want to let you know, before I die, that I…"

Lee held up a hand, silencing Sakura, "You are not going to die Sakura-chan." Lee stood up slowly, "If I'm going to die, then I will die protecting you Sakura-chan, I will die giving my all. And you… you will live to remember me." Lee turned around and gave his nice guy pose, thumbs up and smiling his smile, Sakura saw how different it was from his sensei's. "Goodbye Sakura-chan… I love you."

Sakura felt like someone had punched her, then after a moment, realizing what Lee had just said, she snapped out of it. "Lee! No!" But it was too late, he was already turning away from her to face the jigokinu.

Lee pointed at the demon dog, "Prepare to die beast, for you will not harm Sakura-chan, or anyone else ever again." The jigokinu chuckled but before it could say anything more, Lee began to scream.

Lee was in his subconscious again where the eight doors resided, he quickly opened the first four doors, maybe it would be enough, maybe not. Lee began to emit so much chakra that floorboards beneath his feet began to splinter apart then disintegrate in midair. Lee glared at the jigokinu with glowing white eyes, "Die hellhound!" Lee charged, his world slowing around him from the amount of speed he was producing, he kicked the beast in the side of the head so hard the resulting shockwave created a crater around him and the jigokinu. The beasts jaw cracked but did not break, it swung at Lee with a massive paw, but found itself grabbed and thrown forcibly through the roof to the next floor above. It stood up in time to receive another blow to the face, causing more cracks to appear on its skull, but it was still not breaking.

Lee ground his teeth, four celestial gates was not enough. He opened the fifth.

The jigokinu watched in alarm as more chakra began to spill out of the boy. **_How the hell could something so small produce so much fucking chakra!_** The jigokinu growled and struck with its tail, it was so fast that even Lee could barely dodge it, it scratched his face, ejecting more of the deadly poison.

Lee jumped backwards, _Shit! Its still fast enough to hit me!_ Lee breathed in deeply, afraid of what he was about to do, he entered his subconscious again, he had already unlocked the sixth and seventh celestial gates while training at the tree-house. He just had never opened them yet, Lee took a mental breath and forced open both gates.

"**What the Fu…!**"

That's as much the jigokinu was able to get out when the entire room began to splinter apart from the amount of chakra the boy began to emit. The jigokinu felt like there was enormous pressure, pressing in from all sides slowing it down, and forcing it to work to move at all. It took it a moment realize it, but all that power was definitely coming form that boy.

Lee stood there, staring at his world, nothing moved around him, time seemed to have frozen, even the jigokinu moved as if it was stuck in cement. Lee grinned and charged the beast.

The jigokinu found itself flying through the wall to the outside, its jaw broken, suddenly from all sides the boy appeared at once, blurs that hammered its body from all sides. So fast that it wasn't even falling, it was stuck in the one spot as the boy struck it in every spot of its body at over a hundred times per second. It figured that if this kept up the boy would eventually start to destroy its body. It had to do something, fast.

Lee struck the beast, and flew by it, landing on a tree branch and propelling himself back at the jigokinu, each time he struck it, it moved only a couple of inches before he struck it again from a different angle. He could feel the bone armor cracking with each blow, if he could just keep this up a little longer… Lee felt the muscles in his left arm and his right leg rip apart, but did not feel pain. He could still move them but they would only become more damaged, he didn't care though, if he had to kill this thing by destroying his own body then he would.

The jigokinu made up its mind, it closed its eyes, focusing all the neutralized chakra that it had absorbed into one point of its body. It was a huge amount, it had been storing all of it from the leaf-nin scouts it had killed and then from that pink-haired girl, it opened its mouth and released the chakra at the spot its over-developed brain predicted the boy would hit next.

A ten-foot wide beam of pure white chakra energy fired from the beasts mouth like a cannon, sending it flying backwards until it hit a tree trunk, where it latched on with its claws and focused the beam's power.

Lee saw the blast of pure white energy as it came at him, it was moving slowly, but he was already in the air, he couldn't dodge it. He watched as the jigokinu slowly traveled backwards towards a tree trunk, there it would have a base to brace itself, and Lee would be sent flying backwards with nothing behind him to brace himself against.

Lee could suddenly see the jigokinu winning, and then going off to finish Sakura-chan, because of his failure to protect her, to protect the person he loved more than life itself.

Lee screamed at himself mentally, he had to beat this thing! _I… Can't… Let!…Her!…_** "DIE!"**

The chains on the eighth celestial gate broke apart and Lee blew open it open, his mind already set. The jigokinu would be the first within one thousand years to witness the ultimate power of the celestial gates.

Lee collided with the beam of disintegrating chakra, "**AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" **Instead of being disintegrated, or even blown backwards, Lee hung suspended in midair, taking the full force of the jigokinu's chakra beam.

Lee took all the chakra he was releasing, every single ounce of it, and put it into the contained space of his fist. He struck, slamming his fist into the beam of chakra, he struck so hard that he was forced forward, through the beam and directly towards the jigokinu. The chakra beam flowed around him like water, he was a torpedo and he would give his all to hit his target.

The jigokinu felt panic grip its already dead heart as he saw the boy fly closer to him, completely unhindered by its ultimate attack. It put more power into the chakra beam, even donating large amounts of power from its demonic soul.

Nothing could stop the Beautiful Azure Beast of Konoha.

Lee struck the jigokinu, feeling it's skull crush under the blow, and sent it flying down the tree trunk. Before it reached the ground four-hundred feet below, Lee was suddenly under it, kicking it upwards and then leaping after it so fast he flew just under its shadow.

The jigokinu breached the canopy into open air, nearly eight hundred feet from the ground, and kept going. Lee suddenly appeared behind it as it reached its pinnacle, nearly one thousand feet above the ground. Lee wrapped his armbands around the jigokinu, "Too slow."

Lee spun for all he was worth as they plummeted to the earth, his chakra speeding their descent to unimaginable speeds, faster than he could run even in his god-like state. The clouds above the spinning Lee, began to rotate from the spinning wind given off by Lee-spinning, and a funnel followed him down through the tree-line, through the branches and finally into the earth.

The ground exploded with the force of a megaton warhead, fifty foot wide trees that supported the tree-house were uprooted and sent crashing as the earth was crushed, warped and finally sent flying outwards in a massive dirt tsunami that emitted from where Lee had crashed.

As the smoke of the tornado Lee had created cleared, there lay the crumpled form of the jigokinu, no longer moving. Lee staggered a couple of feet away from the beast then collapsed as his leg bones snapped and the muscles tore to ribbons, his very life essence drained. The only thing Lee could think of was Sakura's face as the world around him grew dark. He smiled as he had no regrets.

If one were to look from above, they would see a mile-wide crater that took out an entire half of the tree village. Luckily the dojo and the central tree were not located in this half of the tree-house. Just as Lee had planned.

* * *

The world shook. 

Neji looked behind him towards the source of the quake and watched as a mountains worth of earth erupted above the trees where, what looked like a tornado, had slammed into the ground about a mile away. _Lee_!

Neji returned his attention to the maniac before him. Zeek was flinging blades of sonic energy at Tenten as she raced around him, jumping from tree branch to tree branch and flinging her own weapons at him, some occasionally exploding.

But they seemed to be having no effect, halfway through the fight, Zeek had activated his level two curse seal. He hadn't increased in size like Duseto, but had stayed the same size, gaining an assortment of spikes and horns and two extra arms, each one also equipped with one of his sonic-emitting gauntlets. Now he was flinging out twice the amount of sonic blades, not to mention the fact that his speed had more than doubled, he had gained four extra eyes arranged around his head so he could see 360 degrees around himself, and he was double-jointed so he could throw in any direction and at any angle.

It was proving difficult for Neji to get close enough to use his jyuuken.

Neji was angry at himself, he and Tenten should've gone against that strange dog monster, and left this moron to Lee and Sakura, with his extreme speed, Lee could've taken out Zeek already and be on his way to help Naruto. But now, if Neji was right about the amount of chakra Lee had been giving off just a minute ago, then he was probably…

"Hahahaha! Run as much as you like, I'll hit you sooner or later! There's no where to hide from me!" Zeek was laughing maniacally, to him the battle was all but won for him.

Neji sighed as he easily dodged another randomly shot blade of sonic energy. The idiot was cocky, too cocky, and he was throwing out his sonic blades as if he had an infinite amount of chakra. Neji shook his head, this was almost too easy a fight for him and Tenten, no matter how much chakra Zeek had gained, he still had a limit. And with his Byakugan, Neji could see Zeek's chakra slowly but steadily decreasing, he was worse than Naruto was when he was a genin. If Zeek even had half the brain that Naruto had, he'd prove far more of a challenge, but as it turned out, he didn't.

Tenten continued distracting Zeek with small bursts of speed that barely used any chakra and half-heartedly attacked to continue misleading Zeek to believe that he was winning. Neji was merely waiting for his opening, once Zeek used to much chakra and began to slow down, Neji would find it easy to just run up and deliver a jyuuken blow to some vital organ.

Now if only Neji didn't have to wait, he could see Naruto and Sasuke going at it, and they still hadn't started to even try. He wanted to get there before things got out of hand with Sasuke.

Neji thought about this as he absentmindedly dodged another random shot from the idiot.

* * *

Hinata ran as fast as she could towards the central tree, which in her altered state was about twice her original speed. When she could finally see the central tree again, an enormous eruption sent her flying forward on the bridge she was crossing. After the rumbling of the explosion died, she slowly stood up and looked behind her, there in the distance was a disappearing tornado and a gigantic crater. She recognized the chakra instantly. _Lee-san…_

And for him to produce so much chakra could only mean one thing, that he was…

Hinata suddenly felt something, something small, like a small and weak signal. He was still alive. Hinata ran for the common room, if Sakura was still there she could send her to go after Lee and she could continue on her way to Naruto.

It didn't take her long. Hinata entered the common room, or what was left of it. The floorboards were splintered everywhere and there were holes in the walls, even one in the ceiling. And there in the middle of the wreckage, kneeled the pathetic form of Sakura as she cried into her hands.

Hinata, came towards and hugged Sakura, she couldn't spend too much time here though, she needed to get to Naruto. Sakura clung to Hinata, her choking sobs causing her entire body to shake. Hinata stroke Sakura's hair and made calming noises.

"Sakura-chan?"

Sakura looked up and nearly yelped, "Hinata? What happened to you? Are you okay?" Sakura was staring at the feline features that Hinata had acquired.

Hinata smiled reassuringly, "I don't know what happened to me, but I'm fine anyways." Hinata gripped both of Sakura's shoulders and stared intently into her eyes, "He's still alive Sakura, I could feel his chakra, if you get to him in time I think you might be able to save him."

Sakura wasted no time thanking Hinata, she sprang up, hugged Hinata and whispering good luck and headed out the door, racing towards the source of the monstrous explosion that had destroyed nearly half of the tree-house.

Hinata wasted no time either, she headed out the door and headed up the ramp towards her and Naruto's room, she could see their chakra lit up forms slugging it out still. It was almost as if they were afraid to bring out their full power in such an enclosed space.

Hinata rounded the tree trunk and found Neji and Tenten battling a four-armed elite jounin. She didn't have time for this. She ran past Neji, startling him and causing him to yell something that might have been her name, but she wasn't paying attention, she had only one goal in mind.

Zeek spotted the Hyuuga girl running towards him, so she had run from Duseto? She must've been pretty fast. Zeek grinned and threw four of his sound blades at the girl, _she'll be sliced to pieces!_

Hinata saw the attack coming easily, after all she could see and feel him charging up his chakra. Part of her subconscious thought about the fact that this was the freak who had sent her to the hospital and nearly killed her during the chuunin exam, but she didn't care at the moment. She jumped, twisting in the air and releasing chakra from every point of her body, creating a sphere of twisting chakra that easily deflected Zeek's projectiles. Hinata landed daintily on her feet and continued running up the ramp. Before Zeek could charge up another attack, she stopped his heart, and ran by his gasping and dieing form.

Neji watched Hinata disappear around the bend, his mouth slightly agape. She had just run past him, used the Divine Spin technique without even trying, blocking _four_ souped-up sonic blades, and if he saw was correct and not just a trick his Byakugan played on him, she had cut the flow of life chakra to Zeek's heart, effectively stopping his heart and killing him.

Neji walked towards Tenten who was taking Zeek's pulse. She stood up, turning to Neji, "I don't know what happened, but I think Hinata just beat this freak without even touching him, and without even trying."

Neji nodded, he felt dazed, he had never seen such power demonstrated by the Byakugan before. Neji shook himself, clearing his mind, "Come on, we must assist Naruto-san, that is if he and Hinata will need it."

Tenten nodded and raced along with Neji, trying vainly to catch up to Hinata.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke separated, after another round of blows, studying the other intently. They must have been fighting this way for over half an hour now, and they weren't even breathing heavily. Plus they weren't getting anywhere. 

"We don't have to do this Sasuke. You know that, you can just stop." Naruto winced, but ignored the pains he had all over his body from Sasuke hitting him, he was glad to see Sasuke wince as well.

"Idiot. Even if I wanted to I couldn't. I'm his slave now, there's no escaping for me, I _have _to follow out his orders. Plus the only way I could beat him is if I beat you first. So no Naruto, I will not stop." Sasuke slid into his fighting stance, readying himself for another bout of blinding punches and kicks, "Though I can tell as much as you, that all this simple kicking and punching isn't getting us anywhere."

Naruto glared, "I'm the idiot? I'm not the one who left in the first place to become 'slave-boy' for that bastard snake! If you hadn't been so stubborn and just come back with me Sasuke, You and I, we could've gotten stronger together, strong enough for you to beat Itachi!"

Sasuke smirked, "You are the idiot Naruto, if I had stayed and trained with you and Sakura, I'd have become soft and weak, I'd never be able to beat my brother that way."

Naruto growled, going into his fighting stance, "Then… why am I still stronger than you?"

Sasuke glared, the first real bit anger he had shown the entire time, "You, stronger? Fine! Enough horsing around, we already know we're equal right now, but now we get serious. I'll show you who's really stronger, or did you forget who won at Valley's End?" Sasuke's skin burned as the curse seal released and spread black markings, like black flame, across his skin. He grabbed his wrist and held his hand pointing down and began to gather chakra.

Naruto accessed Kyuubi's chakra so that a red halo surrounded him, and began to spin the chakra in his palm. "You didn't win at Valley's End Sasuke, you just think you did."

A ball of what appeared to be blue lightning erupted from Sasuke's palm, the pressure given off was so great that the floor under his feet began to cave in. He charged at Naruto.

A ball of chaotically swirling chakra formed in Naruto's hand, the wind given off whipping his hair and tattered clothing from side to side. He charged at Sasuke.

"**Chidori!**"

"**Rasengan!**"

Their fists met together in an explosion of pure energy, knocking them both in opposite directions, through the walls and over the rails, down to the ground four-hundred feet below.

Hinata rounded the bend just in time to see Naruto's unconscious form flying over the edge of the ramp and down beyond her sight, "Naruto!" She jumped over the railing after him, just as Neji and Tenten rounded the bend.

"Hinata!" Neji turned around and headed down the ramp, "Come on Tenten! We got to get down there!"

Hinata angled her body so she was facing downwards and caught up quickly to Naruto's limp form. He awoke as she grabbed hold of him, "Hinata?… are we falling?" Naruto looked down and saw the ground not too far away, "I guess we are falling."

Naruto grabbed hold of Hinata, and yelled, "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!**" fifty or so clones appeared grabbing onto each other's feet and creating a long chain, Naruto and Hinata at the end. The Naruto clone at the other end grabbed onto a branch.

Hinata saw what he was doing, "Are you sure this is going to work?" She had to yell due to the wind screaming past them.

Naruto smiled, "I sure hope so! Or we're as good as dead!" Though it didn't sound promising, the confidence in his voice made her smile and feel as if it was going to work no matter what. He always did that to her. She hugged him close as the ground rushed up to meet them.

Naruto opened his eyes, and looked down, the wind had stopped whistling in his ears. The grass on the ground was long enough to tickle his nose. He looked up, his chain of shadow clones straining from the backlash of Naruto stopping just above the earth. The branch his one clone was holding onto snapped and fifty-one Naruto's collapsed on top of Hinata.

Naruto dismissed the shadow clones in a giant burst of white smoke. He helped Hinata up and pushed her behind him as he saw the figure of Sasuke approaching through the smoke. "Hinata, stand back, this is my fight."

Naruto walked towards Sasuke through the clearing smoke until they were about ten-feet away from each other. Sasuke was already in his level two state, his grotesque wings allowing him to fly down safely. "I'm going to say it again Sasuke, we don't have to do this. You can let me knock you out or something and bring you back to Konoha so they can help you."

Sasuke shook his head, "You just don't get it do you Naruto? I can't do that, I _have_ to kill you." Sasuke began to charge up another Chidori, this time the chakra was black as night though, and its power was incredible.

Naruto didn't want to, but he had too transform. _Kyuubi, get your ass up here!

* * *

_

Kyuubi chuckled, **_Wish I could brat, but you'll have to do that yourself._**

Naruto felt time slow down and stop as his world took on shades of gray. Kyuubi's prison appeared before him, Kyuubi still behind his cage, except there was a huge hole in the bars. Naruto felt panic grip his heart, "What the hell is going on!"

Kyuubi chuckled, it sounded almost sad, **_I really wish it was what it looked like, but that's not the case kid. I do wish I was able to escape but that's not what is happening here._**

Naruto frowned, "What do you mean, what _is _happening?" Naruto was not feeling good about this, Kyuubi was acting strange, there wasn't the normal sarcasm in his voice, and he sounded…weak.

**_Hehe, Remember when I told you that it would be the only time I'd help you without asking for anything in return? Well I'm gonna tell you why._**

Naruto stepped up to the cage, no longer afraid of Kyuubi's tendency to attack his subconscious form, "Kyuubi, you're freaking me out… what did you do?"

Kyuubi sighed, a sound Naruto rarely heard from the great fox. **_I may be a demon Naruto, and I may want to kill you and everybody from your village. But even I, the merciless Kyuubi no Kitsune, have a heart. I was in love once, _still_ in love._**

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You were in love. With who?"

**_Hard to believe I guess, but she was the most beautiful of all the creatures I had seen over the several millennia of my life. She was smart, hard-headed sometimes, but probably as sweet as demons come, after all not all demons are evil. She nearly changed me you know, I almost stopped destroying the landscape, and terrorizing villages._**

**_Her name was… Shichubi._**

Naruto suddenly got that feeling of a puzzle-piece snapping into place, that had been happening a lot. He looked up at Kyuubi, concern plain on his face, the fact that he could feel concern for the demon was insane, but he did, "That explains why you attacked Konoha, after all, the Hyuugas were the ones who sealed up Shichubi."

Kyuubi nodded his massive head, **_She just up and one day disappeared. I did nothing but search for her for nearly five centuries before I found her whereabouts… inside the mother of your mate, Hinata, of course I didn't know that exactly then, I just knew she was in Konoha. I flew into a rage and attacked your village, I intended to kill every single living being there and free Shichubi. But instead I myself get sealed inside of a crying baby, namely you._**

Naruto frowned, "But that doesn't explain what you did to Hinata, wouldn't you want Shichubi free and not melded with someone else like what's going to happen to us?"

**_I did that, because there is no way for me to free Shichubi, so I gave her the next best thing, to live on, fused to a mortal soul, just like me. Of course, I accelerated it, Hinata's body was already damaged from her unconscious struggle with Shichubi, she would've died around age fifty. This way she'll fully fuse with Shichubi within a few months and be able to live a normal life... kind of…_**

Now Naruto really was dumbfounded, "But why would you want to save Hinata for me?"

Kyuubi growled, **_I wasn't saving her, I was saving Shichubi. She doesn't deserve to be imprisoned for the rest of her immortal life, so I ended it, I used what power was given to me and changed Hinata's seal to cause an accelerated assimilation of Shichubi. I guess it'll be like being reborn for her, just into a new body and with a new mind, if she can't have freedom then that's the best I could think of for her. Kyuubi sighed again, And now I pay the price._**

Naruto felt a little dazed at all this, Kyuubi was acting heartfelt and caring, and Naruto was probably the only mortal to ever see him this way. "Kyuubi, what do you mean you have to pay the price?"

**_I don't have to pay the price Naruto, I am paying the price. In order for me to get Shichubi freed I had to sacrifice what little energy I was using to keep you and I separate. It was eventually going to run out, probably in another fifty years or so, but I used all of it last night, saving the love of our lives. I have no control over my powers anymore, you do. Even if you fully release my…Our chakra, I'd still have no ability to control your actions. I've only got a few minutes left before the final fusion, so you better say goodbye Naruto, this is going to be our last talk we'll ever have; because form now on, you're me and I… I'm you. So when Hinata fuses with Shichubi don't be surprised if you love both of them, cause they'll love both of us._**

Naruto couldn't explain, it but he suddenly felt sad. He owed this demon so much, for being there to lend him his power when he needed it, and saving Hinata's life. Naruto came up and put his hand on Kyuubi's giant paw, stroking the golden fur.

Kyuubi brought his giant head down to eye level with Naruto, his eyes sad as well. He'd never admit it, but experiencing Naruto's growth through out his life had caused him to become attached to the loud-mouthed idiot. **_Hey don't pity me kid, if this were any other situation I'd bite your head off._**

Naruto chuckled, and for the first time shared a laugh with Kyuubi, it was also going to be their last. "Kyuubi? What will it be like, us being one soul?"

Kyuubi shrugged, **_Eh, I don't know, you'll get my chakra and probably eventually my powers when you get older. And I guess you might get some of my memories, I'll warn you before hand, they're not pretty, but they'll stay separate from your mind. So basically you get all the powers and I… I feel like I've been reborn as you, my mind melds with yours and the only reason I knew I even existed is because of my memories. I dunno, its hard to explain._**

Naruto nodded and turned away, heading back to the world of consciousness, waving his hand over his head. "Later you stupid fox."

Kyuubi grinned, _**Hey Naruto!**_ Naruto stopped but didn't turn around, _**Beat him for me. He's getting annoying**_.

Naruto nodded, "Sure thing, this'll be the one time I do something for you without asking for anything in return."

* * *

Naruto woke up to Sasuke charging his Chidori. 

Naruto concentrated and summoned up Kyuubi's… no _his_ chakra. He began to form his Rasengan as red chakra bubbled out from his skin taking the shape of a one-tailed fox.

He felt Hinata's panic behind him. He looked back at her, his Zenseigan still active but his irises as red as blood, "It's okay Hinata, everything is fine." His voice didn't sound like the mixed version of his and Kyuubi's for once, but sounded like him.

Even though Naruto had grown fangs and claws to make a vampire jealous, Hinata could tell something was different, this wasn't how Naruto had described Kyuubi taking over his body. Naruto was the one in control. She nodded and stepped back far enough to jump behind a tree if she had too. She smiled encouragingly at Naruto, willing him to stay alive, willing him to win.

Naruto and Sasuke charged at each other, powered-up Chidori and Rasengan meeting in an explosion much like that at Valley's End. Hinata had to jump behind her tree to avoid the explosion's shockwave.

But this time as the smoke cleared, Naruto and Sasuke still stood, breathing heavily, but still standing.

Sasuke grimaced in pain at the same time Naruto did, "This is not going anywhere. I'll show you my true power Naruto and you show me yours! We'll settle this in one blow like we did before, and I'll prove to you that I'm stronger!"

Naruto nodded, grim determination set in his face like stone, "Alright Sasuke. Let's settle this once and for all." Naruto cracked a grin, "All or nothing, right?"

Sasuke couldn't help but grin too, this felt like old times again, but at the same time didn't. The only way to settle this was to kill the other and leave one man standing. This wasn't old times, it never would be.

"Right… All or nothing."

* * *

Sorry for leaving it at another hanger, but I had to end it somewhere! This part is so long! I like long parts, more for me to type... he he he.

Anywho, review this chapter if you will so that I may one day rule the world of FanFiction! Bow before me and the might of the Jello-god! Or else convert to jelloism now! ( :) I know, not much of a choice... just the way I like it...)

**Chapter Preview:** Sakura truelly does say goodbye! **Double Chidori of Darkness** vs. **Level 7 Rasengan**! Shichubi shows her power!


	18. Funeral Pyre: Part Three

Sorry this one took longer than expected, of course its my longest chapter yet! So please no complaints about spelling and stuff, I'm pretty positive I didn't get everything, after all this is alot of fricking words to look through.

Anywho, i've been recieving reviews about the process of Shichubi being passed down from generation to generation of the Hyuugas, many of you think Hinata's mother was supposed to die right after giving birth to Hinata, due to Shichubi. Not the case, the first daughter (Hinata) is automatically born with the seal, being passed down for so many generations its become genetic, but Hinata didn't recieve Shichubi until her mother finally died, where then Shichubi was automatically transferred to Hinata. In this case, Hinata's mother had some fortitiude, so she was able to live long enough to have two daughters. And for those of you wondering how Shichubi gave the Hyuugas the Byakugan and how Shichubi's existence ties into the Hyuugas keeping their blood limit... well you'll have to wait for that, I'll reveal too much about the upcoming story.

Okay, reviews are kicking ass, I am loving them, give me more! They almost seem to fill the empty void in my heart that should belong to some girl. :sigh: Man! depressive aren't I? and you guys wonder how the hell I can write all these sad parts and stuff.

Anyway, I have only one simple word to say, ENJOY!

* * *

**Chapter 18: Funeral Pyre; Part Three**

Sakura scrambled over the dirt and the rubble, she already had to climb over sixty foot wide trees that had toppled over and blocked her path. But she wasn't going to let troublesome terrain hinder her.

She was drenched in sweat and covered in dirt by the time she reached the top of steep hill and the lip of the vast crater. It was over a mile wide, and its bowl shape caused the wind to whip past her viciously as she shaded her eyes with her hand, looking for any signs Lee. After a couple minutes of anxious searching, Sakura spotted a small speck in the center of the crater, half a mile away, "Lee!"

Sakura ran down the hill with as much speed as she could without tripping and falling. The descent must have been at least a quarter of a mile before the ground leveled out. Sakura erupted into a sprint, running as fast as her tired feet could carry her towards the center. She was panting by the time she reached the crumpled form of Lee, sprawled face down in the dirt, his right arm bent the wrong way.

Sakura bent down and gently rolled him over, she could feel something warm on her face, she realized they were tears. She pressed her fingers to his neck, praying to anything for a pulse.

…_th-…thump…_

It was there, but it was slow and weak, very weak. She concentrated her chakra and began to scan his body, she sucked in her breath at the horror of lay before her. He may have only looked little beat up on the outside, but on the inside he was a mess.

Nearly every bone in his body was broken in several places, even his fingertips. His muscles were ripped apart, as if someone had cut clumps of red rubber-bands in half, he was paralyzed from the waist down, maybe from the neck down, his lungs, stomach, liver and his heart were all ruptured, his trachea crushed so that he was barely getting any air. She looked at his right arm, it was completely annihilated, the bones had literally become what a bag of potato chips looked like after it was sat on several times, the muscles were so torn and ripped that they looked like someone had packed his arm full of red spaghetti, and the nerves were completely fried in that arm, no feeling at all, no movement either. He was hemorrhaging everywhere she looked.

Sakura breathed in deeply, sucking in large breaths through her nose and letting them out through her mouth. She had done some serious surgery, but she knew that even Tsunade-sama would never bother with this amount damage, it was too much, he was going to die. That's what Tsunade would say, but Sakura was going to have none of it, he had somehow survived, he had done this to himself to protect her. She wasn't going to let him die for that. She wasn't going to let him stop being a ninja either, if she was going to bring him back she was going to do it all the way.

Sakura brought all of her remaining chakra to bear, and even added in her own physical energy. She hoped it would be enough.

She started on his organs first, namely the heart and the lungs, then the other organs he would need to function. She could feel his life ebbing away still, she had to repair his blood vessels. So she started on that next, giving a good shock to his heart afterwards to make sure it beat strongly. Next she did his muscles, rearranging them in the precise order that they belonged, attaching them to their proper tendons and joints. Next was the bones, she didn't think she could do all of them, but she could at least make most of them whole. She started on the spine and the ribcage, careful to not touch the delicate nerve chord in his back. It was like putting a puzzle together, an extremely complicated puzzle that required enough pieces to make it work, or else it would die. Sakura thanked the heavens she had studied extra hard on the human anatomy with Tsuande-sama.

Sakura fixed the bones in his legs, and repaired his crushed hips, she also repaired both of his arms. Now she focused on the truly difficult part, she had gotten his condition to stabilize, but that meant nothing, if she didn't get his nerves working properly, not only would her never be a ninja again, but his systems could just up and fail.

She probed his spine, looking for micro-fractures within its structure and delicately and slowly repairing them. It was here that she realized how he was able to survive. After scanning his body so many times Sakura had to come to the impossible conclusion that it was the jigokinu's poison that saved him.

It was strange, by opening all of the celestial gates, he had somehow reversed the effects of the poison, instead of destroying his soul and body, the poison had turned medicine and began to _repair_ his soul and his body as he destroyed it. So even as he damaged his body fighting the jigokinu, it healed itself at the same time, allowing him to last longer and even repairing his body to some extent before she got there. Even now, the poison that was still inside him was aiding in her healing, she realized without it she would never had been able to save him.

She smiled as confidence returned to her, it was amazing that thing that was going to kill him, was now the very thing that was saving him.

Sakura sat down, leaning back on her arms. She was breathing heavily, she had just used every scrap of chakra she had left, and almost all her physical energy, she was having trouble staying conscious.

"…S-…Sakura…chan…."

Sakura jumped forward, leaning over Lee's still body, he was breathing regularly and his heart beat had stabilized in a steady rhythm, he was going to live. "Lee? Are you okay."

Lee frowned, keeping his eyes closed, "Ugh… I hurt."

Sakura laughed, he was conscious, which meant he wasn't in a coma, "Of course you do, you're alive."

Lee tried to sit up, wincing in pain, "Ah!" Sakura tried to lay him back down, but Lee sat up anyways, breathing heavily form the exertion and sweating from the pain. "That hurt. So… I'm going to live?"

Sakura nodded, tears streaming down her face again, she gently hugged him and rested her face on his shoulder, "Yes! Yes you're going to live, thank the heavens you'll live!" Sakura sniffed, "You idiot! You didn't have to do that! You had me so worried!"

Lee tried hugging Sakura, but only his left arm moved, so he wrapped that around her, though it caused pain to spike up and down his arm and even into his neck and back. "I'm alive, and from what I can tell, I will be able to move around again normally."

Sakura pulled away and told Lee what she had discovered about the poison. Lee laughed, "Ah! The Spring of Youth! Because of my determination I was lucky enough to turn my enemies attack to my benefit. I was lucky, and as Gai-sensei says, that shows that I am becoming a great warrior. Someday I will just as good as him Sakura-chan, wait until he hears that _I_ survived eight of my celestial gates being open. He will be so proud!"

Sakura laughed, imagining the meeting between pupil and teacher. She hugged Lee again and kissed his cheek "You're already a great warrior, and in my opinion I think you're already better than Gai-sensei. I think he'd agree with me on that part."

Lee smiled, "Thank you Sakura-chan, for everything, I do not know how I will ever repay you. If there is anything that you ever need of me, let me know, I will be more than glad to pay this life debt." Lee looked around, "Now where is my fallen foe?… Oh no."

Sakura frowned, "Lee, what is it?" She followed his pointing finger, there in the direct center of the crater was a depression in the dirt that took the form of a giant dog. All there was left was a leg stump and three-legged foot-prints that led towards…

"Shit! He's going after Naruto!" Lee held up his hand to Sakura who had stood up, "Quickly Sakura-chan! We have to go after it before it reaches Naruto, if we can't fight it, we can at least try and beat it there to warn Naruto that it still lives."

Sakura gently pulled Lee up, his leg bones were completely whole and so were his leg muscles, Sakura had mad sure of that. But he still limped badly and Sakura put his limp arm around her shoulders to help hold him up, letting him use his left arm to balance himself.

Lee swore, "These beasts are insanely powerful! We'll have to warn Konoha about them later, but at least I was able to severely wound it, see?" Lee pointed to the three-legged tracks, "It is limping worse than I am, it can not have gone far."

Sakura nodded, she may have been tired before, but her reserves of adrenaline had kicked in, and she and Lee half jogged, half limped their way out of the crater.

_Just hold on Naruto, just hold on.

* * *

_

They stared into each other's eyes, red gazing into red, attempting to see the other's soul.

Sasuke's grotesque wings, looking so much like giant webbed hands turned upside down, snapped open and pumped once; sending him flying into the air at the same time Naruto exploded into movement, circling the clearing they were fighting in. The same clearing Jaraiya had brought Naruto and his friends eight months before.

Sasuke hand-sealed, hands blurring as he attempted to complete his jutsu. He had to barrel-roll due to Naruto throwing a shuriken at him, but it didn't mess up his jutsu. He finished with the tiger seal and brought his hand up to his mouth, breathing so deeply he arched his back and stuck out his chest. As he exhaled he yelled "**Fire Tornado Jutsu!**" From his mouth erupted a stream of fire that warped and twisted into the shape of a burning tornado, aimed directly for Naruto.

Naruto wasn't expecting a new fire technique from Sasuke, he cursed himself mentally for not anticipating it as he activated the seal he had placed on his shirt. The tornado of fire hit him straight on, burning everything around him, causing the air to shimmer and waver from the intense heat.

As the fire cleared, Naruto stood, unscathed as a shimmering orb of chakra surrounded him, the ground outside the orb had been turned to glass. Naruto deactivated the chakra shield, hopefully he wouldn't be careless enough to have to use that one again, it had to drain more chakra than it was blocking in order to protect him successfully, and that had been a lot of chakra in that fire jutsu.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, how did he do that? He didn't understand, Naruto had no time to use a jutsu, especially one powerful enough to block his fire tornado. He smiled, "I'm intrigued Naruto, how did you do that? Does it have to do with your blood limit? I'm curious as to what it does, and what it is called."

Naruto grinned, "Can't tell you what it does, it would take to long to explain, but I can tell you this, its called the **Zenseigan**, the 'Power Control Eye'. Is that enough for your curiosity?"

Sasuke smirked, "For now, to bad you won't be able to tell me about it personally after you die." Sasuke dived, spinning his body like a top as he gathered chakra into both of his hands. Half way down he began to rapidly fire off baseball sized blasts of purple chakra, they twisted down towards Naruto like missiles seeking out their target.

Naruto activated the seals he had carved in the bottom of his sandals, and leaped upwards, as Sasuke's missiles exploded beneath him. He must have been a hundred feet in the air, about half that amount above Sasuke, when Sasuke finally noticed where he had went. Naruto hand-sealed and pulled out the Demon Wind Shuriken. Naruto wound up in midair like a pitcher and hurled the shuriken at Sasuke, "**Sonic Shuriken Jutsu!**"

Sasuke laughed, did Naruto really think he couldn't dodge that? Sasuke stopped laughing when he heard the sonic boom as the shuriken instantly sped up past the speed of sound halfway through its flight. Sasuke barrel rolled, barely moving out of the way and flared up his chakra as the sonic boom hit him, sending him toppling end over end. Luckily his Sharingan saw the sonic boom coming after the shuriken sped up, his chakra stopped him from taking any serious damage, but it had been reflex and had drained a good bit of chakra.

Naruto landed on the ground with the grace of a fox, his red chakra tail snapping in agitation behind him. He had hoped to knock Sasuke back down to the ground, but he had been too fast. Naruto held out his hand as the giant shuriken circled back around and caught snatched it out of midair, it had taken out several trees on its return journey. Naruto pocketed the shuriken and focused his attention on solely on Sasuke's left arm, and activated the power of his Zenseigan and used Kage Bunshin no Jutsu at the same time.

Sasuke had enough time to see Naruto's eyes flash brightly when he heard an explosion right next to his face that knocked him sideways. He pumped his wings madly, steadying himself, he looked down at his arm and saw it was completely encased in ice, he could barely move it and the cold was numbing his arm. He focused his chakra into his arm causing the ice to explode.

"Hyaaaaaa!"

Sasuke grunted as he was tackled out of midair by three shadow clones, who began to pummel him as he plummeted to the earth. He was able to fling off two of them before he crashed into the ground, crushing the third. He grimaced and slowly stood up, whatever Naruto had done with the ice, it had been a distraction for Naruto's shadow clones.

Sasuke was able to stand up to be suddenly flung backwards as Naruto slammed a Rasengan into his stomach. Sasuke crashed into a massive redwood, sending splinters flying in all directions as the trunk caved in and formed a crater. Sasuke shook his head, clearing the stars in his eyes, and rolled to the side as Naruto slammed another Rasengan where he had just been, blowing the tree in half and causing it to topple in the distance.

Sasuke was on his hands and knees, his back to Naruto, he could feel the hole in his gut gushing out large amount of blood. His Sharingan felt the coming attack before he could even turn to see it, Sasuke focused his chakra into his foot and kicked backwards and upwards, connecting with Naruto's chin.

Naruto stumbled backwards, dazed and unable to concentrate enough to sustain the Rasengan he had formed.

Sasuke stood up, using his curse seal's chakra to stop the bleeding from his stomach. He turned to face Naruto who was holding his jaw with a dazed expression on his face, "You've never surprise-attacked me like that before, you've grown, I'll give you that." Sasuke glared at the blond-ninja, "But now I'm through with screwing around with you, its time that you die."

Naruto watched Sasuke jump back, putting more distance between them, and with his Zenseigan he could see his curse seal suddenly flare up, releasing staggering amounts of dark chakra. Sasuke grinned, "I had to ask for permission from Orochimaru to be able to do this Naruto. You'll be the first to see it… the level three curse seal."

Naruto snapped out of his daze at Sasuke's words, his eyes widening in stunned silence. _Level three curse seal? This is not good._ Naruto squared himself with Sasuke, sliding smoothly into his fighting stance, and began to form a Rasengan, expecting the worst.

Sasuke screamed as the dark chakra spun around him, growing so thick that Sasuke's body was obscured from view. The roar of the swirling chakra drowned out Sasuke's screams and black electricity began crackle along the chakra and snapping out occasionally, leaving burned gouges in the earth around him.

Naruto held his breath as he waited for Sasuke to reappear. He didn't know what to expect, whether Sasuke would become even more of a monster or else he would stay the same as he was and gain some strange power that could tip the scales in his favor.

Slowly the roar of the chakra died as it began to disperse. As the dirt that was kicked up by whirlwind, began to settle down, Naruto got his first glimpse of the new Sasuke.

He looked like he had when they were still boys. Exactly like how he had, from the same eyes to the same hair. The only difference was his clothing and his Sharingan. The clothing was the same as when they began this fight but the Sharingan had changed color, turning a bright violet color that glowed like twin neon lights. And of course there was his chakra, Sasuke had to be emitting a hundred times more chakra than Naruto was, he didn't stand a chance against him in his current state.

Sasuke looked at his hands, and felt his face, "So this is the third level, doesn't look like much, but oh it _feels_ so **_GOOD_**!" Sasuke released some of his chakra experimentally, it appeared as violet flames interlaced with black lightning, he watched as the earth around him exploded from the force of so much chakra. And he was hardly even trying, he had to be at least just as strong as Orochimaru now, if not stronger. Sasuke snapped his attention back on to Naruto, "You don't stand a chance against me like that. I know about your demon Naruto, release it. Release it all the way, because if you don't, you will die." Sasuke frowned as Naruto hesitated, "Do it! Or else I will kill your friends until you do, starting with her!" Sasuke stuck out his arm, pointing towards Hinata as she stood off to the side.

Hinata couldn't take this, Sasuke was too strong, and even though Naruto had control now, there was no way he would have control if he fully released Kyuubi. She had to stop this, even if she was going against Naruto's wishes, she couldn't let this continue.

She focused on the chakra circling around Sasuke's heart, she was putting as much chakra as she could into this, she _had_ to make sure she took him down, or else she wouldn't have another chance. She cut off the flow of chakra.

It stopped, and for a half a second Hinata thought it was over, but Sasuke's chakra forced its way past her incision and continued along the path of its inner coil. There was just too much chakra that he was emitting, anything she tried to do would just be overrun by the sheer volume of chakra Sasuke was giving off.

Sasuke chuckled, "Don't bother Hinata, no one here can match my power except maybe Naruto. Your Byakugan tricks will never work on me in this state, my power far outclasses yours." He hadn't even taken his eyes from Naruto to address her, he was that unconcerned with her. She suddenly felt as useless as when Naruto had first started to show her how to use her jyuuken arrow.

"Hinata." Hinata looked up from the ground she was staring at to see Naruto staring intensely at her, his feral features reflecting concern and love in every curve of his form. "Hinata, it will be okay… Trust me." Hinata nodded, and took a step back so that she was next to her tree if she needed. She whispered too silently for anyone to hear, "… I trust you…"

Naruto seemed to hear it though, he smiled at Hinata and then focused his attention back on Sasuke. "Fine Sasuke, you want to get rid of all the barriers and fight that way, fine. But I can already tell you that you're going to regret this." The only answer he received was a chuckle from Sasuke, so he released the Rasengan he had formed an focused inwards. _All I have to say is thanks you stupid fox… for everything._ Naruto was sure he heard a mental whisper, _…go get him kid…_ but he may have imagined it, either way he searched deep down and found the well of bubbling red chakra, a well so vast and deep that Naruto had never seen its bottom. He was about to today.

He released the chakra, feeling it wash through him like a tsunami, freezing his insides and then burning them up in a never ending cycle as the chakra raced through his body. It was too much demonic energy for his body to handle properly, so even more began to bubble out of his skin. Sasuke watched as Naruto's red aura became erratic and then stabilized as it began to grow, first one tail appeared next to the first, then a second, then a third.

Sasuke gaped at the amount of chakra Naruto was releasing, he wasn't even _trying _contain it! His fangs lengthened till they were long enough to make a tiger jealous, his nails turned into full blown claws as red chakra formed giant claws of its own over his hands. His clothes began to disintegrate from the amount of chakra he was releasing, revealing that dark stripes had appeared all over his body.

And still the power came.

Five tails. Sasuke began to release some of his own chakra to match Naruto's.

Six tails. Sasuke began to breath heavily, he increased his chakra to 25 to match Naruto.

Seven tails. This was insane! When was he going to stop! Sasuke increased his power to 50

Eight tails. Sasuke felt the first bit of panic grip his heart as he increased to 75 power output, he was barely keeping up to Naruto.

Nine tails. Sasuke couldn't believe it, he was already at 100, and he and Naruto were near the same power level.

Pebbles, sand, stones and rocks the size of basketballs began to break off from the earth and float upwards as Crimson Red and Violet-black chakra clashed against each other. The entire area around them was being disintegrated form the amount of raw energy they were giving off.

Sasuke ground his teeth in frustration, this wasn't happening! He was expecting Naruto to be powerful like this, but not nearly as powerful as this, Sasuke stared at the forms that were attached to Naruto, nine tails of red chakra that whipped back and forth, ripping up the ground and knocking down the giant redwoods behind him. They were equal, a toss of the coin to see who won.

Sasuke wasn't going to have that.

He grabbed his wrist and focused the chakra into his hand, "**Chidori!**" His palm erupted into black lightning and he started to sink into the ground as the pressure from the Chidori created a ten foot wide crater around him, ripping the ground underneath to dust.

Naruto began to form his Rasengan in his palm, if this is how Sasuke wanted to do it then fine. Naruto's eyes widened though as he watched Sasuke suddenly grab his other wrist with Chidori still in hand. Sasuke screamed, but ignored the severe burns he was causing himself, "**Chidori!**" And black lightning erupted once again, but from Sasuke's other palm.

He had two of them now.

Sasuke grinned, "What Naruto, wasn't expecting that? Well you'll love this!" Sasuke slammed his fists together, brining the two Chidoris crashing into each other. There was an explosion of black chakra, and then there was one very large Chidori being held by both of Sasuke's hands. It hadn't doubled like Naruto thought it would, but increased in power exponentially after Sasuke brought them together.

Naruto paled, with that much power he'd destroy everything around them. Naruto turned and saw Hinata standing off to the side, terror stricken and unable to move. "Hinata!" Hinata snapped out of it and turned to stare at Naruto, this much chakra was too much for her to handle by just standing near them. Naruto pulled out green pebble he had in his pocket, and tossed it to Hinata. Hinata grabbed it and stared at the seal that was carved into its surface. "Hinata! Take that and run away from here, it will protect you!"

Hinata hesitated, wanting to stay with him, Naruto saw this, "Run! Please!" Hinata turned tail and ran as fast as she could. And as she ran she held the stone to her chest, crying and praying to heavens that she'd be able to see her Naruto alive and well again.

Naruto returned his attention to the maelstrom that was Sasuke, "You think that's cool Sasuke! Try this!" The small orb of swirling chakra in Naruto's palm warped and began to climb its way up his arm, turning his arm into a chakra tornado, "Level Four!"

The chakra tornado widened at his shoulder and narrowed at the end, making his arm into a drill, "Level Five!"

Naruto pumped chakra into the chakra drill increasing its size two fold until it nearly exploded, once it reached the brink there was a loud **BOOM!** And the drill suddenly lengthened to ten feet long and five feet wide at the back end, there was chakra erupting from the back like a rocket engine. Naruto had to dig in his feet as he began to slid forward from the thrust, "Level Six!"

Naruto grabbed his shoulder, this was going to hurt. He pumped as much chakra as he could into the level six Rasengan, until it was to the brink, "And this… Agh!… is Level… SEVEN!" Another booming explosion erupted from Naruto's arm, this time accompanied by blinding white light and wind.

Sasuke turned his face to prevent himself from being blinded by the bright flash of light. As the brightness cleared, Sasuke turned to gaze at the magnificence that was Naruto.

The 'drill' was huge, over twenty feet long and ten feet wide at the end, its revolving tearing up the ground underneath it. It was completely white, from the back white chakra exploded backwards, providing so much thrust that Naruto was slowly sliding forwards. But most amazing of all were the wings, around the back 'rim' of the drill, there slowly revolved nine wings of white chakra that stuck out an angle, pointing backwards, appearing like the white feathered wings of angels. That added to the red aura and nine red tails that whipped back and forth, created quite a sight, even in Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke grinned, he had to shout over the combined roars of their charkas, his Chidori and Naruto's Rasengan, "Impressive! Now lets see if that big drill of yours can really beat my Chidori!"

Naruto glared, "This is your last chance Sasuke! We don't have to do this!"

Naruto shook his head from side to side, chuckling. Sasuke looked up, suddenly not so mirthful anymore, and in a voice as dead as Itachi's he spoke, "The time for talking is over Uzumaki. Prepare to die."

Naruto screamed an charged, tears running down his cheeks as he flew forwards, propelled by his Rasengan.

Sasuke leapt forward, propelling himself with his dark chakra, and winding his Chidori behind his back, preparing to put his entire body into the blow.

They flew towards each other, extending their fists as time warped and slowed from the massive amounts of chakra.

**"RASENGAN!"**

**"CHIDORI!"**

Level Seven Rasengan and Darkness Chidori met, and the universe ripped apart as their world turned from white to black to white again. The very earth was ripped from its roots and turned to dust, boulders the size of houses were blown outwards and the disintegrated, trees burned to ash within the fraction of a second, and the shockwave from the blast tore gouges, like giant claws, in the trees far enough away to avoid the initial blast.

All Naruto and Sasuke could hear was a deep roaring sound, and all they could see was each other's faces, both grimaced and determined. It was now a battle of wills as they wrestled against each other, trying to overpower the other. It seemed like hours, days, _years_ as they fought against each other, neither willing to give up. But they couldn't last like this forever, they couldn't fight like this forever.

Naruto felt the tears on his face, this was not what he wanted, he only wanted to bring Sasuke home; bring things back to the way they used to be, when Sakura-chan would chase after Sasuke, and Sasuke would call him an idiot for his recklessness, but then while no one was watching, give him tips on how to do the jutsu correctly.

Naruto didn't want this, Sasuke was his best friend, no matter how much he hated him for leaving, Sakura and him, he was still his friend and always would be.

It was difficult to explain, but Sasuke felt his emotions resurfacing, he watched as this life and death struggle tore his emotions from their hiding place, just as this fight was truly tearing him apart from the inside out.

Naruto had only one chance, he activated his Zenseigan and focused on Sasuke's curse seal. He began to drain it, as fast as he could, trying to weaken Sasuke enough to beat him. It was too much chakra though, Naruto was already emitting too much as it was, so he just discarded the dark chakra he drained from Sasuke into the air, pumping whatever he could use into his Rasengan.

Sasuke felt his energy draining faster then it should, and realized, with a hint of panic, that Naruto was somehow draining him of his energy and making his Rasengan more powerful. He was going to lose. At first he felt disbelief that he would lose, then anger at Naruto beating him, then anger at himself for not being strong enough.

All of sudden those feelings melted away as calmness settled over Sasuke. Of course he wasn't strong enough, Naruto was stronger than him and still just Naruto. He on the other hand had sacrificed everything in the pursuit of power, just because his brother told him it was the only way.

It was like coming out of a fog for Sasuke as his sanity was able to temporarily resurface after three long years of being lost. He was going to lose, but he didn't care, his friends would live and he would die for the mistakes he would never be able to repair. It was better this way, if he survived his insanity would just take over again and he would become dead like his brother, there was no saving him now, there was never was. Maybe that's the real reason he still fought on even though Naruto had told him he could stop. Sasuke smiled sadly, a single tear burning it's path down his face as he whispered "…I'm sorry…" and let go.

Naruto screamed.

* * *

Hinata flew forwards as the shockwave hit her from behind, landing roughly in the dirt, but she felt no pain. Around her was a shimmering wall of chakra, she felt the and heard the shockwaves roll over her with no effect, she prayed that Naruto lived. 

Neji and Tenten reached the ground just as an explosion sounded in the distance, Tenten turned to Neji, something close to panic in her eyes, "We have to hurry!" Neji nodded and together they rushed towards the source of the explosion.

Sakura and Lee heard the explosion as well, causing their adrenaline to pump anew. Lee limped forward, ignoring most of the pain that every muscle in his body was giving off, "Come Sakura, we have to hurry!" Sakura nodded, readjusting her hold on Lee so she was taking most of his weight and began to jog towards the source of the explosion, pulling Lee along.

As the explosion died, the seal on Hinata's green stone deactivated. She stood up and ran back through the forest, towards Naruto, her heart hammering. She didn't think about whether he had survived or not, she only thought about getting to him as quickly as possible.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, and slowly sat up, he was drained and tired, his entire body was in pain from the amount of strain he had put on it. He looked around himself, he was in the middle of a bowl, the explosion caused by his and Sasuke's attack had created a fifty wide crater and was so hot that it had turned its sides into perfectly smooth glass. Naruto looked around and then noticed something was against his hand. 

Because of the smoothness of the glass, both he and Sasuke had slid into the middle. And there he lay, unconscious, appearing as Naruto had remembered him so long ago. Sasuke's breath was shallow, and blood dripped from his mouth, ears and eyes. Naruto's heart clenched as if grabbed by a fist.

Sasuke was dying.

"N-Naruto…" Sasuke's eyes fluttered open, searching, "Where are you… you idiot."

Naruto kneeled next him, "Right here."

Sasuke breathed in, his lungs sounding crushed and filled with blood, "You were right… Naruto."

Naruto frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?" Naruto was already crying.

Sasuke chuckled, bringing forth a gasp of pain, "You were right, I …would've gotten stronger if I had just… stayed." Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut as a spasm of pain ran through his body, "I… I wanted to… to kill you, b-because, if I was able to kill you…" Sasuke coughed, bloody phlegm flying everywhere, and causing more pain spasms. "…if I was able to kill you… suppress my emotions and kill you… I'd finally be hateful enough, and… therefore… strong enough, to… to beat I-Itachi." Tears began to flow down his face, running from the corner of his eyes to the glass-earth as his body was racked with painful sobs. Naruto had never seen Sasuke shed one tear in his life.

"Sasuke please… please don't die… not now…"

"No Naruto. I _have _to die… when I said you couldn't save me… I meant it. My… my mind is gone, Naruto… I'm not the Sasuke you grew up with… anymore. I n-never will be."

Sasuke reached up to grab hold of Naruto's arm. "Stop sobbing you… you big crybaby." Sasuke chuckled again, bringing forth more coughing and more pain.

Naruto grabbed hold of Sasuke's hand. "I didn't want this… I didn't want this." His voice was barely audible whisper.

Sasuke smiled one of his rare smiles, the type of smile that really meant something. He gripped Naruto's hand with as much strength as he could muster "That's why I'm sorry. I-I'm sorry for not… for not believing you… when you said it would be okay if I came back with you… to Konoha… back at Valley's End." Sasuke smiled sadly, "I was acting as stupid as… as you then… wasn't I?"

Naruto nodded, smiling weakly and unable to talk. His best friend in the world was saying he was sorry, and now he lay here… dying. Because of him.

Sasuke's breathing was getting softer and softer with each breath and his eyes were having a hard time staying open, "T-tell Sakura-chan that… that I _am_ sorry… and… and that… I love her… Please?"

Naruto nodded, his throat choked up and preventing him from even talking.

"Oh… and Naruto?" Sasuke's voice was a mere whisper now, "I… I always thought of you as…"

Sasuke suddenly stopped, Naruto bent down crouching over Sasuke, desperate to hear these words, "W-what?…"

"… as my _real_ brother…" Sasuke let out a sigh as his eyes closed, and his muscles suddenly relaxed.

He didn't breathe in again.

Naruto clenched his muscles and ground his teeth as the tears flowed freely down his face. He felt as if a claw was tearing up his insides, starting from the bottom of his stomach, climbing up to tear apart his heart and then ripping its way out of his throat.

The scream Naruto let loose could only be described so much. It was Sorrow, it was Pain, it was Anger. But it was more than that, it was mourning in its purest form, Naruto had not only lost a friend, he had lost his only brother.

He lay there, sobbing into the still chest that used to be Sasuke.

* * *

Hinata jumped through the bushes into the clearing. 

The entire area had been torn apart. Chunks of earth and rock stuck out at awkward angles, as massive fallen trees circled the entire area, and in the very center was a large crater that reflected the sunlight like a glass bowl.

She ran forwards, jumping into the crater and sliding down its smooth surface to the blond ninja in the center. "Naruto!" her heart leapt at the sight of him alive. He had survived.

But when Naruto turned to her so she could see his face, she stopped. She had not seen so much sorrow in those blue-eyes since he had told her about the demon inside of him, then she saw who lay next to him.

Sasuke. He was laying there, his hand gripped by Naruto's, his eyes closed, seemingly asleep. Except he wasn't asleep, he didn't breath and his skin was pale, he wasn't asleep… he was dead.

Hinata knelt next to Naruto and gently pried his hand off of Sasuke's, "…Naruto…" She let him hold her and cry into her shoulder, his sobs barely heard. And even though Sasuke was the cause of all this, all this pain and destruction, she couldn't help feeling a sense of loss while gazing upon his still form. He was never her friend, hardly even an acquaintance, but he was a comrade, and he was Naruto's friend, she had memories of him, and seeing him here now, unmoving and never going to move again, she felt sorrow. She may hate Sasuke for bringing pain, but she thanked him for being Naruto's best friend.

They knelt there for who knows how long, Naruto silently letting out his pain and Hinata taking that pain and making it disappear. "… this is my fault. I couldn't keep my promise to Sakura-chan… I couldn't bring him back."

Hinata cradled Naruto's head against her shoulder, "None of this is your fault Naruto. None of it. You did the best you could, and you did what you had too. There was no other way, and… and to tell you the truth, I think if the real Sasuke were to talk to you, he'd have told you he'd prefer it this way."

Naruto nodded slowly into her shoulder, then slowly pulled away and loosened his grip around Hinata, "He did."

Before Hinata could say anything, she saw a shadow behind Naruto, on the edge of the glass bowl. "Naruto!"

"**How sad, master Sasuke is no more. Nor are the two fools Duseto or Zeek from what I could gather.**" The jigokinu laughed, green fog dripping from its mouth as it wheezed.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, every alarm in his body was going off. He realized in shock that some part of him knew what this thing was, that he had fought these things before. _Kyuubi_. The fox had said that he would get some of his memories when they fused, though Naruto was getting anything useful from it, other than that this thing was extremely dangerous.

Naruto stood up, keeping himself between the dog beast and Hinata. "What the hell are you, and what did Sasuke have to do with you."

The jigokinu let out another wheezing laugh, "**I suppose it doesn't matter if I tell you, you're going to die anyway. I suppose you humans find comfort in knowing what is killing you.**" The jigokinu paused, laughing again, "**I am a jigokinu, a hellhound. Orochimaru discovered the process to create us many years ago. All he needed was the dead body of a dog and the spirit of an oni demon. Then he just had to fuse them together. Then just like magic, you end up with me, a dead body inhabited by the spirit of a demon.**" The jigokinu began to circle the rim of the crater, forcing Naruto to turn slowly to keep Hinata behind him. "**I'll even tell you some of my abilities so you understand the futility of your situation. You can't hurt me physically, not unless you have an attack that is above Hokage level. My tail contains a poison that, if you are even injected with one drop, your body _and_ your soul will be utterly destroyed within a few hours. Then of course there my main ability, the one that makes the jigokinu the perfect assassins for ninjas… my skin and my armor, they _absorb_ chakra, neutralizing it into its most basic energy form, which I can then use at leisure.**" The jigokinu stopped circling in the same spot it had started, "**If you wish to test this out, then by all means, do so. I'll even give both of you one free shot against me, just to prove that you can't beat me, and that you_ will _die.**" The jigokinu grinned, a baring of gums and teeth that looked more like a bloody snarl, "**Come at me.**"

Naruto turned to Hinata, he wasn't sure if he believed everything the jigokinu just said, but if he was going to get a free shot against this thing he was going to take it. Hinata nodded. In a flash of movement they both leapt out of the bowl in opposite directions.

Hinata charged up a jyuuken arrow, making it large enough to be considered more of a spear than an arrow. If this things body was already dead, then aiming at any vital spots wouldn't help, she had to immobilize it. She aimed for its hips and let loose the arrow in a flash of white chakra.

Naruto charged a Rasengan, he very little chakra left, so he had to conserve his energy, one level five Rasengan would be his max for now, so he had to make it count. He leapt into the air, slamming the whirlwind into the beasts head.

Hinata's attack dissipated almost immediately after coming in contact with the jigokinu's hide. Naruto's attack wasn't much better, it slammed into the beasts skull, but it barely budged an inch, and then his chakra dissipated as well.

Naruto leapt backwards towards Hinata putting distance between himself and the hellhound. This was not good.

The beast chuckled, "**… My Turn.**" The jigokinu's form blurred as it charged, Hinata was just able to block a massive paw as it sent her flying backwards, and Naruto barely dodged the beasts lightning fast tail as it tore a hole in his jeans, just missing his skin.

Naruto jumped backwards, writing a elemental blast seal on the beasts hide, though the explosion did nothing to hurt it, it succeeded in getting the jigokinu's attention away from the stunned Hinata. The jigokinu stalked slowly towards Naruto, enjoying the last moments before it would kill him, "**Interesting jutsu I might say, I've never seen the likes before. Would you like to tell me what it was before I eat you?**"

"Hey Bitch! Leave Naruto alone!"

The jigokinu turned its head to look behind itself just as Neji and Tenten came into the clearing, Tenten had just pulled out a scroll which she was now running a bloody thumb across. "You want to fight him, then you have to fight all of us!" With a bang of white smoke, the scroll summoned a large bulky sack that Tenten held slung over shoulder.

Naruto used this chance to jump to the side and give himself more room to fight. He hoped this worked.

Tenten jumped onto the tree behind her and pushed off, sending her sailing into the air. She untied the sack and swung it over her shoulder, causing it to open like a folded blanket. Out flew nearly one-hundred and sixty shuriken kunai and other small throwing objects. Naruto knew there were exactly one-hundred an fifty eight of them, after all he had spent an entire day carving seals into every single one of them.

The projectiles flew every where, all over the clearing, just as Naruto had wanted them to. The jigokinu though looked towards Tenten as she landed on her feet, "**That was completely pointless, you missed!**"

Tenten grinned, "You know for being such a big bad monster that can talk, you're really not that bright are you? I didn't miss, I hit my target in the bulls-eye."

The jigokinu looked to see Naruto grinning, this entire area had just turned into his playground. The jigokinu roared and charged at Tenten. But as he bit down on her shoulder, she suddenly wasn't there.

"Over here you idiot." Naruto was off to the side, putting Tenten on her feet next to Hinata. "You know, for a big bad monster, your stupid _and _slow." The jigokinu charged again. But before he had even taken a step Naruto had disappeared and was standing on top of the beast's back. It tried stabbing him with its tail, but again Naruto disappeared and was suddenly off to its left, his arms crossed and tapping his foot impatiently. "Are you going to move yet? Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you were trying to, my bad, I'll give you another chance, actually, here I'll give you a free shot, just for you."

The jigokinu growled, deep rumbling that was scraped from its throat, "What the hell is going on?"

Naruto grinned, "Well since you were so kind in telling me your special abilities, I'll tell you some of mine." Naruto pointed at the shuriken and kunai littering the ground, "I've just started using it today, but I pretty much figured it out by now. You see the seals I've carved on all of these shuriken and kunai allow me to move instantly anywhere within five meters of the seal. Some of these also have other seals I've carved onto them, you know the explosive type and some other goodies. Oh…" Naruto noticed the jigokinu staring at the kunai and shuriken, "…and if your thinking about trying to destroy any of those, don't bother, I can be there in an instant and put it somewhere else if I want too. So don't bother, and better yet, I hardly use any chakra at all, so even my tired ass can keep this up for quite awhile."

The jigokinu glared at Naruto with its empty eye sockets, "**No one can move that fast for long, you'll eventually slow down. And when you do, I'll rip you to shreds**."

Naruto shook his head, not longer smiling, "You really are stupid aren't you? You weren't listening to me, I said that those seal allow me to move _instantly_ to anywhere were there is another seal. And now there's over a hundred and fifty of them for me to choose from."

"**That's impossible, not even teleportation can do that. Teleportation still requires you to move, though its nearly light speed, and only those of Hokage level have been known to use it. And as powerful as you think you are boy, you don't have the control required to do such a thing. So how about you stop bluffing, because I don't care How long it takes, you're going to slow down and either you or one of your friends will die.** **Well?**"

Naruto wasn't listening to the jigokinu's monologue though, he was thinking of a way to beat the damn thing. And he thought he had just found a way, "Hey ugly dumb dog, you said that your _skin_ absorbs chakra right?"

The jigokinu laughed, "**What, trying to stall for some time? Its pointless, you can't get past my defenses.**"

Naruto grinned, "How about inside, do you absorb chakra if an attack gets past your skin?"

The jigokinu paused, "**What the hell are you talking about? You can't get past my skin anyways, so why would it matter you little brat?**"

Naruto smiled evilly, "I'll take that as a no." Naruto vanished again, "Behind you mutt!" The jigokinu turned to see Naruto's Zenseigan glowing, the jigokinu just noticed Naruto's eyes were different than before.

"**What the hell is…AGH!**"

The jigokinu had no time to complete its sentence as an explosion of fire ripped apart its insides. It staggered and coughed up black blood, "**What the hell did you just do! How the HELL did you do that!**" The jigokinu leapt at Naruto, intending to tear him to shreds.

Naruto vanished again, and this time kept on vanishing. The jigokinu suddenly found itself surrounded by blurry after images of the blue-eyed ninja, and he could tell that the boy was transporting himself faster and faster as the after images grew in number.

Finally it was to the point that Naruto was 'moving' so fast that some of his after images looked solid, all of them standing the same way, their arms crossed and glaring at the jigokinu. "_You hurt my friends, you tried to kill them and destroy my home. You're servants of Orochimaru who was the one who sent Sasuke here to die. You **will** pay!_" It sounded as if Naruto was using Kage Bunshin.

Then Naruto did use Kage Bunshin, draining all of his original chakra, using only the Zenseigan's chakra to use the seals.

Tenten, Neji and Hinata stared in amazement, Neji could hardly speak, "How… How many are there?" Hinata activated her Byakugan and felt herself feel slightly dizzy from what she saw, "I don't know how much chakra he had left but there's… there's over a million of them."

Tenten and Neji slowly turned their heads to stare at Hinata, "How…?"

Naruto was the one who answered that question for them, though he was speaking to the jigokinu, "_You see, I don't have a whole lot of chakra left, so I made shadow clones that were really weak, one touch and 'poof'. But you see, the cool thing about shadow clones is they get any blood limits the user might have, which means they all get the Zenseigan and the same amount of chakra that it provides. So we all get to use its powers._"

The jigokinu could only watch as the million Narutos moved in and amongst each other, there were so many that it was a solid wall of Naruto that surrounded the beast. "**No, this is impossible! I'm a jigokinu, I can't be beaten, _nothing _can beat me! Nothing!**"

Naruto only stared at the beast, "_Well your about to taste defeat for the first, and the last time in your goddamn life._"

Over one million Zenseigan's began to glow, "_When I send Orochimaru to join you, tell him hi for me._" Naurto wrote the seals inside the jigokinu, "**Million Burst of the Elements!**"

The jigokinu shook as one _million_ elemental burst seals went off inside of it, incinerating its insides, the explosions unable to escape due to its chakra absorbing hide. The jigokinu staggered and collapsed, vomiting charred gore, it tried to crawl towards the single Naruto that now stood before it, but suddenly stopped, going completely still. It didn't move again.

Naruto collapsed on his butt, barely able to move, not only had he used all his remaining chakra to make the shadow clones, but he had used Zenseigan's chakra as well. Naruto grinned at Hinata, Tenten and Neji, who were running towards him, smiles plain on their faces. "We did it! Its over guys…!" Naruto felt something impact his back, and then move off.

Hinata screamed as an explosion of blood erupted from Naruto's backside, his spine split in two. "NARUTO!" Hinata saw the second Jigokinu stop a couple yards away, it had been too fast for any of them to see, and it was missing its right front leg, its left paw was covered in blood, Naruto's blood.

Naruto fell forward as Hinata ran towards him, but before he even hit the ground the jigokinu blurred again and Naruto flew backwards onto his back. Hinata felt terror grip her heart as another cloud of blood ripped open Naruto's stomach, his intestines spilling out all over his abdomen.

Hinata crouched over him, blood was gushing out of his mouth and he couldn't move the lower half of his body, Hinata screamed as Naruto's eyes stared, wide but unseeing as he struggled to stay alive.

Neji and Tenten had stopped in their tracks at the sight and the jigokinu crouched on its haunches only a few feet away from Hinata and Naruto.

Sakura and Lee came through the bushes just as Hinata knelt next to Naruto. They were too late.

Sakura screamed at the sight of the torn Naruto, his lower half of spine stuck out to the side and his intestines spilled out in every direction, his entire body had gashes from claws on his front sides. The jigokinu had been to fast for him to react.

Sakura collapsed onto her knees, she had used all her chakra healing Lee, and now, Naruto was dieing and there was nothing she could do! "…N-Naruto!" She began to cry, it hit her that she was going to watch Naruto die and stand by and do nothing, because there was nothing she could do, he would be dead in less than a minute.

Hinata felt her heart torn as she gazed upon the wreck that was her Naruto, so many thoughts were passing through her mind. The fact they had just made love for the first time the night before, the fact that he had finally asked her to marry him, the fact that he wasn't going to keep his promise to always be by her side.

The fact that because of the creature in front her, she and Naruto would never have their future together.

_Kyuubi!_ The thought surfaced from somewhere else, but Hinata paid it no mind. _Naruto!_ The voice yelled again, _Kyuubi!_ Hinata felt the anguish that reflected hers so perfectly, _Naruto!_

_Kyuubi, Naruto, Kyuubi, Naruto!_

The two thoughts from the two different minds circled back and forth, repeating their names over and over, Kyuubi, then Naruto then Kyuubi again. Until finally they were saying the names together in their thoughts.

The jigokinu chuckled, "**MY brother was a fool, he always enjoyed playing with his food. It cost him this time, so I wasted no time, with that blond idiot completely off guard and by far the most dangerous, I decided to kill him first.**" It grinned wickedly, "**You my dear are next.**"

Hinata was whispering something over and over again, as she rocked back and forth.

The jigokinu frowned, "**Hm? What the hell do you think you're doing, aren't you scared of dieing?**"

"Naruto. Kyuubi. Naruto. Kyuubi. Naruto! Kyuubi! NARUTO! KYUUBI!" The seal broke inside Hinata as the white chakra of Shichubi flowed intoher and instantly fused with her soul. There was no pain, just a sense of completion, as if this was how it was supposed to be all along.

The jigokinu leapt, bringing its jaws to bear. And was thrown back by an unseen force that slammed it into a tree fifty yards away. Hinata stood up slowly as the white chakra erupted from her body.

Her Byakugan had turned her eyes white and was now causing white chakra to emit from them like white fire. The are around her began to sink into the ground, caving in as her chakra tore apart the very earth she stood on.

Sakura and the others could only stare at Hinata as massive amounts of chakra began to wash over them in waves. "…Hinata…?"

White fire began to erupt from Hinata's skin, slowly forming the shape of a cat, as her canines and nails lengthened into fangs and claws, her ears became pointed and black stripes appeared all over her body. The tails appeared one by one, each emergence of a tail increasing her chakra to unbelievable levels.

Finally the seventh tail, bigger than the others came tearing out of her body, releasing so much energy that her clothes were ripped off and disintegrated. The jigokinu stared warily at her, not understanding what was going on.

Hinata looked down at Naruto's body, and slammed her tails into him, pumping insane amounts of chakra into his body, she felt his soul, he was no longer Naruto or Kyuubi, but an entirely different being, a fusion of two souls to create a new one. Just like her. She forced the wounds closed, reattaching the spine, putting his organs in their rightful order, repairing them and closing the skin around his wounds so that there was not even s a sign of a scratch. She ignored the superficial wounds, she had to use her chakra for something else, she grabbed his heart with her seventh tail and sent a burst of chakra mixed with some of her life energy directly into his heart, forcing it to beat once again.

Naruto began to breath softly, still unconscious. Using her tails, Hinata gently set his body near Sakura and Lee. Then focused her attention on the jigokinu. She felt the combined rage of her two souls overwhelm her, that jigokinu had almost killed her true loves. She was a new being and in love with both sides of Naruto and Kyuubi. She growled at the jigokinu, "Time to die little doggy."

The jigokinu howled and charged, meeting Hinata halfway in midair. They both tumbled to the ground, biting and clawing at each other as they rolled around on the dirt. Hinata kicked the jigokinu into the air and grabbed it with her tails, and slammed into the ground, cracking the ground underneath, she picked it up again and began to systematically destroy the rest of the remaining area by using the jigokinu's body as a club.

All the while the jigokinu was absorbing the chakra from her tails as she touched it. Finally she threw it through a boulder, letting go of it. It calmly walked out of the rubble, shaking itself clean, "**Foolish bitch! I don't know what you just did, but even with your new power you can't beat me if you wanted too. I'll just absorb your power for my own uses!**" It opened its mouth and let lose its ultimate weapon, the chakra beam. Hoping to finish this quickly, it poured all the chakra it had gathered from the cat girl into its attack.

The blast struck Hinata head on. But the beam stalled for a moment then split into smaller beams that shot off to the sides as Hinata blocked the attack with one hand. She waited a couple minutes until the beam had dispersed. "That all you got little doggy? Well lets see just how much chakra you can really eat!" Hinata leapt through the sir, tackling the jigokinu and purposely began to pump her chakra into the beasts body.

The jigokinu laughed, "**You fool! You are only giving me more power to destroy you with! HAHAHAHA…!**" The jigokinu suddenly stopped laughing. Hinata had suddenly slammed all of her tails into the jigokinu and began to pump dizzying amounts of chakra into its body. "**What! How the… How the hell can there possibly be this much!**" The jigokinu began to panic, what was up with these kids! How could they be do fucking powerful, first there was that insanely fast and strong kid who got past its armor and ripped of its front leg, and now there was this girl who apparently had untold amount of chakra, and she was trying to pour it into its body.

The jigokinu froze, it was demon but one of low class, a mere oni. The only thing that could have this much chakra was… _SHIT!_

The jigokinu began to buck, trying to throw Hinata off of its back, but it was too late, she was latched on and not letting go. It had to get rid of this chakra, any more and it would implode! It stared at the grouping of teenagers that gathered around Naruto's body, watching their fight. It grinned, "**You just killed your friends bitch!**" It opened its mouth and released its chakra at the doomed ninjas.

Hinata's hand suddenly whipped out and snapped closed the jigokinu's mouth, "Good doggy, just like I wanted you to do."

The jigokinu felt pure terror for the first time in its life. The released Chakra had nowhere to go, and so double backed into his body, causing a chain reaction. The chakra shrunk into a condensed ball of energy and then imploded, shooting the chakra into opposite directions.

The jigokinu exploded as the white chakra overran even its chakra-absorbing hide. A mushroom cloud of white fire rose up into the sky and incinerating everything within the area. Neji and the others threw themselves over Naruto's body as the shockwave hit them.

They lay there for what seemed like hours as the smoke cleared and died down.

Naruto suddenly snapped awake, jumping up and running towards the white fires, he knew exactly where he was going, "Hinata!" He found her curled up into a ball, at the rim of the glass bowl, surrounded by burnt ground, and sleeping peacefully. She wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. Naruto bent down and scooped her up, cradling her gently as if she were made of glass, "Thank you Hinata. You saved me, and my promise. I'll never leave your side, and now I know that you'll make sure of it." Naruto kissed Hinata's lips, and though she was unconscious she responded anyways, lightly kissing him back.

Naruto walked back to the others, holding Hinata tightly to his chest. Sakura walked up to Naruto, worry on her face, "You… you're okay?" Naruto nodded. Sakura hesitated, afraid to ask, "And… Sasuke…?" A look of pain so great that he didn't have to answer. Hinata collapsed to her knees, her tears renewed. Naruto touched her shoulder to get her attention and pointed towards the crater that had become a glass bowl.

Sakura ran to the crater, jumping in and sliding to the still body of Sasuke. She already knew it was too late, but she couldn't stop herself, she scanned his body. He was dead. She felt the sobs rear up once again, when she felt Naruto's hand on her shoulder, he had left Hinata with Neji. "Sakura-chan… he wanted me to tell you… before he…"

Sakura turned to Naruto, tears were running from his eyes as well, he sniffed, "He wanted me to tell you… that he loved you. He wanted you know that."

Sakura felt her heart cave in, she grabbed Naruto and began to scream into his chest.

They knelt there, next to the body of their friend, their love and their brother. They weren't able to save him.

"**How sweet. Didn't know you could cry twice over such a wretched piece of shit.**"

Naruto and Sakura as one let go of each other and stood up, the jigokinu that Naruto had thought he had killed stood at the rim of the crater on the other side of Sasuke. "How…!"

The jigokinu laughed again, "**My body is animated by soul you idiot. The only way you can kill me is if you do the same thing as that bitch did to my brother. You have to completely destroy my body and my soul at the same time. Or else I just keep coming back. Too bad you won't get another chance.**"

Naruto acted purely on impulse, he grabbed Sakura and leapt out of the crater and ran to Hinata and the others. He was moving purely on adrenaline, he grabbed Hinata from the ground, "Neji take Lee and get the hell out of here, Sakura and Tenten, you too!"

Sakura shook her head, "We can't leave Sasuke's body behind. Naruto what the hell are you doing!"

Naruto wasn't paying attention, the jigokinu was calmly walking towards them, confident once again in its inevitable victory. Naruto had somehow tapped into the Hinata's chakra, he didn't understand how he had done it, but he did. He had no chakra of his own right now, but he could use Hinata's.

Naruto activated the Zenseigan and started setting off all the explosive seals on the kunai and shuriken scattered around the area, many of the explosions that were close to each other started fires in the dead and dried grass.

The jigokinu charged towards Naruto, not wanting to let him gain an advantage. Naruto looked up to the tree house, and using Hinata's new source of chakra, set off every single seal in the trees at once.

The jigokinu found itself dodging flaming branches the size of small trees as the tree-house above continued to explode, and then began to collapse.

Sakura grabbed Naruto, "What are you doing! We have to get Sasuke!" Sakura found herself grabbed from behind as Tenten began to pull her away. Why was Naruto destroying Sasuke's body, there could've been other ways to kill the jigokinu.

Naruto turned and ran after Tenten and Neji. The sky had turned dark from the amount of black smoke in the air, and the forest around them was beginning to catch fire. Sakura looked into Naruto's eyes, sky-blue with white starbursts for pupils, and she saw they were crying, holding an unbelievable amount of sorrow and guilt.

Naruto wasn't destroying the jigokinu or Sasuke's body. He was burying him.

He was making a funeral pyre.

* * *

Naruto and the others stood on the hill, watching the forest fires die down. It had only been a couple of hours since Naruto had burned down the place they had come to call home. 

Tenten cried in Neji's arms, Hinata and held onto Naruto, not willing to let him go, and Lee held the sobbing form that was Sakura. They had lost their home, they had lost their friend, and they had nearly lost their hope.

"I can't go back to Konoha."

Everyone slowly turned to look at Naruto. "I can't go back. If I do… I'll only bring this. I need to go, make them follow me away from home, maybe even make them think I'm already dead." Naruto swallowed, "I'm going to look for Orochimaru and Itachi, I'm going to kill them, and… I don't know if I'll ever return to Konoha… so…" Naruto breathed in deeply, "…so I don't expect you guys to come with. I know you want to go home, you don't have to worry about me… I'll be fine."

There was silence at his words, then Neji spoke up, "He's right, we can't go back, we need to get away. Probably go north I think, make Orochimaru think we're all dead and then take him by surprise. Same with the Akutsuki."

Everyone nodded and began to pick themselves up, Naruto was dumbfounded, "…we?"

Hinata kissed him, "I promised to never leave your side Naruto, and its one I'm going to keep."

Neji and Lee came up to pat his shoulder, while Sakura and Tenten gave him hugs. "You guys mean it? You don't…"

Neji pointed north, "That's the way we need to go. We should start now, we got plenty of light, and we don't know if that hellhound is really dead or not, they don't seem to wan to stay down." Neji started off giving one last look at the inferno that was their home.

Everyone else said their silent goodbyes, to the tree-house and to Sasuke. Naruto and Hinata were the last ones to move. "Thank you Hinata, for everything." Naruto smiled down at her, staring into her lavender eyes, "I love you."

Hinata smiled and kissed him, "I love you too." She grabbed his hand and pulled him after the others. Naruto looked over his shoulder as they disappeared behind the hill. _Goodbye Sasuke… my brother._

They had a long journey ahead of them. They headed North.

* * *

Okay I know, I took the idea from trigun for the feathered wings coming off Naruo's shoulder, I'm sorry I admit it, but man it was just so cool looking in my head that I had to absolutely do it! I hope you guys liked it anyways. 

Alright, I know some of you are also wondering where the hell Itachi, Kisame and the Tsunade gang are, well I'll get to them in the next capter. Which I must warn you will take me four to five days to get up, mostly because I have a general idea where the story is going but I have to sit my ass down again and do some more plot developing. That way I don't get writer's block halfway through the second half of this story. Do not worry though, it will be put up (for thos of you getting nervous at these words, just be patient... patience is a virtue after all.) in the spirit of Naruto all I have to say is "... Trust me..."

**Chapter Preview:** What is going through Itachi and Kisame's heads? And what happens with Tsunade and the rescue team? Plus, of course, the beginning of Naruto's long exile.

p.s. I know, jigokinu are annoying as hell. :)


	19. Beginning of Exile

Alright, I guess I have some explaining to do. As most you well know, its been over a month since my last update, and I could give many, many reasons why it took me so long. But I want to tell you the real reason, because I think that all of you deserve it. I am ashamed to say this, but I had writer's block for awhile. I've only had it twice before, and I absolutely hate it when I get it, it makes me feel inadequate as a writer. Anyway, I knew the general direction I wanted to take the story, I just didn't know what to do exactly, I did a bunch of brainstorming, but that only got me so far. I ended up typing half of this chapter and then stopping. one day grew into two days and two days into three, until now, over four weeks later I finally finish the damn chapter. It was wierd, I've been busy with so much stuff, such as seeing old friends and dealing with college and finding a job, that I used those as excuses to not pay attention to my story. And the anxiety grew as more and more of you emailed me, wondering when I would put up the next chapter, and even if I would put up a next chapter. I want to thank all of you who kept pestering me, it was because of you that I finally forced myslef to sit down, work my way through my block, and finish this chapter. It only took a day, the idea just suddenly exploded in my head, and it had been sitting in front of me the entire time... you'll see. hee hee

And so, all I really have to say is... I am sorry, and can you please please please, forgive me? I won't do this again, if I ever have trouble again figuring out what to do, I promise to keep you all updated on what's going on. And for those of you who pestered me, keep it up, its really only from your support that my story can live. And as I have promised before, I will not stop this story until I finish it.

And now, after a long month of waiting, I have only one thing to say... ENJOY!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 19: Beginning of Exile**

Itachi watched the group of children disappear over the hill.

For that's all they were. Children. Most of them had probably not even reached eighteen yet, and yet they took missions and risked their lives as any adult ninja would, they had been doing it ever since they weren't even teenagers. All ninja had started risking their lives at that young and tender age.

To expect so much from someone so young…

… it made him sick.

He forced down the rare feeling that had surfaced with practiced ease. That hadn't happened in awhile.

Itachi turned his head to gaze through the clearing smoke and fire, there he could see what looked like a glass bowl filled with fire. Inside he knew lay his younger brother Sasuke. In the end he had been too weak, if he had had enough hate he'd of been able to defeat the insanely powerful jinchuuriki that was Naruto. But Sasuke had still considered Naruto as a friend, and that had been his downfall.

Uchiha Itachi was now the last of his clan.

Itachi turned to gaze at the half-hidden sun as it seemed to drift through a sea of black smoke, "… so ends the Uchihas…"

"Hm? What was that Itachi?" Kisame stepped up beside his partner, curious to the sudden voice the silent man had finally found after two hours of complete silence. Kisame set his sword point down into the leaves of the tree they were standing on and scratched the back of his head, "You finally cracking on me or something Itachi?"

Itachi didn't even move an eyelash, "I was merely contemplating on the defeat of my younger brother."

Kisame raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, I guess you two won't be having that fight you were expecting, huh?" Kisame looked up to see what Itachi was staring at. The sun looked like blood in oil.

Itachi continued staring at the sun, almost seeming to daydream, "It does not bother me that my brother and I will not fight. I would prefer not to fight a weakling if I can avoid it."

Kisame laughed, "That's what I like about you Itachi! You leave all the pieces of meat for me so I can have fun! Never had such a considerate partner!"

"The girl is a jinchuuriki." Itachi was still staring at the sun, if someone didn't know him they'd say he was lost and not knowing where to go.

Kisame grinned, baring his teeth that he had filed into points, "Yeah, I guess 'Leader' was right. We got two of them now, right in our grasp! Of course I already know what you're going to say, 'We must observe. We must be patient'." Kisame shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, I guess it can't hurt waiting a bit, I mean he led us to anther one. Who's to say that two of them together won't lead us to more?" He shook his head, "After seeing them fight though, Itachi, that was at _least_ Hokage level energy going on there. We'll have to separate them somehow so we can gang up on them."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, a rare expression on a face of stone, "Are you having doubts about your abilities Itachi?"

Kisame laughed, "Ah hell no! I can fight a Hokage level enemy any day! I'm just saying that it would be a pretty equal fight and who knows if I'd win or not? Sorry, as much as I like to fight, doing the sneaky Akutsuki thing does pay off every once in awhile." Kisame stopped laughing and looked over his shoulder towards the east. "We got some company on the way."

Itachi tore his gaze away from the blood red sun and looked to where Naruto and his companions had disappeared. "Yes, they'll be here in a few minutes. We should go, as much as I prefer strong opponents, I do not wish to fight a Hokage today."

Itachi disappeared in a flash of speed and was soon followed by Kisame. They headed North, angling slightly to the west, so as to keep up with the companions but also keep sufficient distance between them and their targets.

Itachi reminded himself that patience was a virtue.

* * *

Tsunade's body told her she was reaching her limit on endurance, but she paid it no heed. There was smoke in the sky, and she could see flames in the distance, she had to get to Naruto. 

She was not feeling good about his. She had felt the monstrous chakra coming from Naruto. She could tell he was fused with the demon, but what scared her was that he wasn't even at full power. Because Naruto's human soul had just fused with Kyuubi, his human chakra would naturally hold back the full potential of the demonic chakra, Tsunade knew though, that as Naruto got older, his demonic aura would become stronger.

She had felt Sasuke's chakra as well, it too was unbelievably powerful, and it was so dark that Tsunade had to assume that Sasuke had somehow gained the power of his own demon. But now she couldn't even feel his life force anymore, for all she knew he could be gone, or even dead.

But what was most disturbing of all was the chakra she had felt after Naruto's and Sasuke's fight. It felt like Naruto's in the fact that it was a human soul fused with a demon's, but this fusion was nearly complete; for it had been far more powerful than both Sasuke and Naruto, which could only mean that it was a Youma demon's chakra, and the only other jinchuurikis that Tsunade knew of was Gaara…

...and Hinata.

Tsunade felt the sweat freeze her skin as she drew closer and closer to the fires that burned through the forest.

Kakashi and Jiraiya weren't doing much better. Their stamina was at its limit, and fear drove them on more than anything. Fear for Naruto and his friends, fear for the amount of chakra they had felt earlier.

It wasn't long before they reached the edge of the fires. The air was heavy with smoke, and it was so hot that any air that they were able to breath seemed to evaporate before it reached there lungs. Jiraiya began to use air element jutsus to clear the air, while Kakashi made themselves a path with a few water jutsus, they were already tired, but the fear drove them on.

"Stop." Tsunade turned to see Jiraiya warily eyeing the clearing they had just entered. "I thought I felt something." Jiraiya shook his head, "I don't feel anything anymore. Either way, this is the place where we felt Naruto and Sasuke fight."

Tsunade studied the wreckage around them. The area was covered with fallen redwoods that burned steadily as they crisscrossed on top of each other, and the now exposed sky was half hidden by thick black smoke. The sight reminded Tsunade of the Great War that Konoha had been involved with not too long ago. Tsunade shook her head, suppressing those horrifying memories, and led the way through the hell that surrounded them.

They came into an area that had no fallen trees across it, but instead was dominated by what appeared to be a fifty foot wide bowl of glass that was filled with burning branches and leaves. Tsunade walked around the crater, examining its contents, "This is where Naruto and Sasuke fought. Do you see any sign of either of them? Of anyone?"

Jiraiya shook his head in dismay, "I'd say check in the tree-house." Jaraiya looked up at the smoke covered sky, no longer hidden by a canopy of green leaves, "But I don't think any of it exists anymore."

Tsunade looked around, "Where's Kakashi?"

"Over here!" The voice was coming from over a pile of redwoods.

Tsunade and Jaraiya both climbed to the top of redwood hill. Down below was Kakashi examining what looked like the remains of a giant dog. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade cursed as they sprinted down to Kakashi. Kakashi looked up when they reached him, "I'm guessing from the looks on your faces that you already know what this is."

Jiraiya nodded, "Yes, it's a jigokinu. A hellhound made in the world of mortals, there's only one person alive who still knows how to make them."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "Orochimaru. Sasuke and the hell dog must have been working together."

Jiraiya shrugged, "Probably. But if that's true, I don't know how any of them could've survived. Just the fact that Orochimaru has enough sacrifices to start making these things again is a really bad sign."

"They're not dead." Kakashi and Jiriaya looked to Tsunade, who was staring off into the distance, towards the north.

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Don't tell me you can feel them heading in that direction!"

Tsunade shook her head, "No, I can't feel them. But I can feel two sets of very powerful chakra towards that direction, I recognize the one as Itachi's"

Jiraiya jumped as if he were about to start running, "We have to go after them!"

Tsunade shook her head. "No."

Now Kakashi jumped up as well, "Why the hell not."

Tsunade turned to both of them, "Naruto and his friends are as safe as they can be for now. If we started to follow them, Itachi and his partner would strike. I believe they are only following them." At the confused looks she was getting Tsunade elaborated, "I can sense their chakra to the point that I know they were here the entire time Naruto and Sasuke were fighting. The fact that they didn't take Naruto or anybody else when they would apparently be weakened from fighting, leads me to believe that they are only observing them." Tsunade sighed, "As much as I'd like to go after them, our main priority is to get back to Konoha and start preparing for war. Orochimaru is apparently going to start moving soon, and I want to be ready. Naruto will be safe with everyone else, I have a feeling that they all survived."

Tsunade turned west and began sprinting back towards Konoha, Jiraiya and Kakashi followed trying their best to keep up. Jiraiya was already tired, he didn't want to do this, "Wait Tsunade! Don't you think we should rest at least? And how the hell did you sense Itachi and I didn't?"

Tsunade looked over her shoulder, "We need to get back to Konoha as soon as possible, as long as we're awake we keep moving. And as for sensing chakra when you or Kakashi can't, well, I'm a girl!"

Jiraiya nearly tripped and fell on his face at the mention of that, this was stupid. They had just gotten there to save Naruto, and Naruto was already gone, and what do they do? They just turn around and high-tail it back home, and now Tsunade was cracking jokes about her superiority as a female. Jiraiya shook his head, he'd trust Tsunade that Naruto was alright, but how long would that last?

Kakashi chuckled at the look of dismay coming from Jiraiya. Tsunade knew something she wasn't telling them, hopefully things would turn out for the best. He silently wished Naruto good luck on his journey and proceeded to follow Tsunade's enticing rear.

* * *

"This is itchy as hell!" 

Neji and the others turned to look at Naruto as he thrashed about and scratched himself while Hinata stood by, gently rubbing her arms and legs. Neji was surprised that they hadn't fallen over yet from all their moving about. "Well, that's what happens I guess when all your clothes disintegrate from and over-abundance of chakra output."

Naruto stuck out his tongue at Neji, a childish expression that he hadn't done in awhile, he must have been irritable. "Couldn't we find something other than branches and leaves to cover ourselves? I mean, I think there's still bugs in mine!" Naruto was very irritable. They had grabbed large leaves and some flexible branches and used those to clothe themselves.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "If we keep traveling parallel to the road we should run into a village within a few hours. After all we've been traveling for over a day now."

Naruto grimaced angrily and a very animal-like growl rumbled from his chest, "It better be soon, or else I'm going to go insane!" Hinata wrapped her arm around Naruto's waist as they walked, and rested her head against his shoulder as a deep purring vibrated from her belly. It seemed to calm Naruto down.

Sakura turned to face forward again, to face North, their chosen direction of travel. After they found Naruto and Hinata some clothes, they were going to sit down and have a nice long talk. Their behavior was starting to freak her out, it wasn't frightening, it was just strange. They expressed their emotions through growls and purrs, like a dog or a cat would, she had no idea why the hell they were acting like that, but she meant to find out. And she wanted to know about those massive chakras that had caused their clothes to turn to dust, she wasn't sure whether she would like the answers, but she wanted to know. From what she could tell, the others wanted to know just as badly as her.

Sakura was right though, in a couple hours they came over a hill to see a good-sized village nestled in the dell of two very steep hills, it was probably home to about five thousand people or more. It was peaceful to look at, with the small wooden homes and numerous plumes of grey smoke that escaped through holes in the ceiling. They could see the road they had been following curve around the hill they were on and enter the village from the east side. They had noticed as they traveled north, that hills started to become more and more prominent, and it had only been a day and a half.

"Woohoo!" Naruto leaped with joy, "Finally! Buildings mean people, and people mean clothes! Yes, come on Hinata-chan!" Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and was about to sprint down the hillside to reach the village when Neji's voice stopped him in his tracks, causing him to face-plant into the rocky dirt.

"We have no money."

Naruto slowly raised his face from the dirt, "Ow… shit…" Hinata helped him to stand, gently brushing the dirt from his face. Naruto sat down, "Than how the hell are we going to get real clothes, plus we need baths, all of us do, and we need somewhere to rest so we can get our bearings and decide where the hell we're going." Hinata began to groom Naruto's hair, pulling out dirt clumps and any insects that had gotten caught in his hair. Naruto seemed to enjoy it.

Tenten found it difficult to ignore Naruto's and Hinata's strange behavior, but she shook her head slightly and spoke up. "You know, we are ninja."

Lee half stepped, half limped forward, "We may be ninja, but we cannot steal from defenseless innocents Tenten. Only in dire need would that be forgivable."

Naruto growled under his breathe "…this situation seems pretty dire to me…"

Tenten ignored both of them, "I didn't mean stealing guys, I meant work, we could find someone to help, and they could help us by giving us clothes, supplies, baths and a place to stay."

Neji and the others nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea, someone always needs help, whether its fighting, catching criminals, or even just daily chores." Neji looked at Hinata and Naruto, "I think both of you should stay here though, you'll both attract attention in your current, uh, attire."

Naruto frowned, "If you guys aren't back soon with clothes, I'm going to go down there and kill you." Naruto rested his head in Hinata's lap and waved his hand dismissively, "Well if you're going to go, go! I want my fucking clothes dammnit."

Sakura rolled her eyes and bowed mockingly, "Of course all mighty Uzumaki Naruto, we shall return with your robes." Tenten and Sakura giggled as they headed for the village, Neji shook his head but had to suppress a grin while Lee laughed openly. This was going to be interesting.

* * *

The trek down the side of the hill was harder than it looked, it was a little over a forty-five degree angle, so Sakura and the others ended up doing a lot more sliding than actual climbing. It didn't take long to reach the bottom though, before they knew it they were level with the village and its people. 

The village was busier than they thought, villagers and travelers walked through streets as merchants and farmers called out their wares at the potential customer. There was rice, a large assortment of vegetables and fruit, fish, jewelry, clothing, expensive and inexpensive; there were even smithies filled with various metal objects, including weapons and armor. Especially weapons and armor it seemed.

"I know this place." Everyone turned to look at Neji, "I was here once, when I was younger. Me and my father came here to meet another clan that was closely related to the Hyuuga branch family, the Hyata. We were coming on the behalf of Hiashi, I don't remember why, I was only six years old then."

Tenten's mouth gaped, "You know people here? Then what the hell are we doing trying to find someone to help? Neji, you can just get us a place to stay, they are your relatives after all."

Neji shook his head, they had just walked into the village and were walking down one of the larger and more busy streets, "No, I'm afraid that probably won't happen. I might not be able to remember what my father went to talk to the Hyatas for, but I do remember there was a lot of angry yelling between them. If they see me, they will know me for who I am, and I doubt they will be very welcoming."

Sakura shrugged, "Just because there's some bitterness between the Hyatas and your family doesn't mean its your fault Neji. I say we go there and at least try, they are family after all."

Neji sighed, "You're right, lets see if we can find where they live."

The first person they asked knew of the Hyatas and gave them general directions to find there residence. As they walked along the streets and asked more people where the Hyatas lived, it became evident that the Hyata family was well known in the village, which went by the name of Bushi. It only took them a half an hour to find the Hyata mansion.

"This is where the Hyatas live? It's freaking huge! It's bigger than Naruto's mansion!" Sakura and the others gaped at the size of the complex, it was definitely the most extravagant of all the buildings in the village, its outer wall surrounded by giant oak trees, which explained the reason why they couldn't see it from the hilltop. Most of the buildings were two story, and the central building was a three story monstrosity. "Well, shall we go in?"

Neji walked up to the double iron gate, which had golden dragons curling through the bars, and he pushed. The gate opened easily, swinging inward without a single squeak. Neji led the group in, it was a five-hundred foot walk to the central building through a garden of cherry trees and little Zen gardens that lined the sides of the concrete pathway. They had to climb a set of stairs to reach the massive double-doors, obviously made of heavy oak that had been carved with dragons and sword wielding warriors. Neji walked to the side where there was a yellow rope hanging from a hole in the wall. When he pulled it a giant gong rang from somewhere behind the doors and reverberated through the entire complex. Sakura, Tenten and Lee couldn't help but gape at the magnificence of the Hyata fortune. Neji only shook his head, _wait until they get inside. This is going to be embarrassing._

It only took a moment for the doors to open and single bald man in a black kimono came to greet them. He must have been at least seventy years old, but he moved as if he moved like a cat, with a sort of liquid grace, his eyes were pure white, not the pale lavender common amongst the Hyuuga, but white as new fallen snow. Neji realized that this butler was a very dangerous man, but he could sense no chakra from him. The others seemed to get the same feeling as they huddled behind Neji. The butler cocked an eyebrow, "A Hyuuga? No members of your family have showed their faces here for over a dozen years. What is your business?"

Neji sucked in a deep breath, "I am Hyuuga Neji, son of the late Hyuuga Hizashi. I come to speak to lord Hyata." Neji crossed his fingers behind his back, _I hope this works._

The butler nodded his head, "Very well, wait here while I confer this to lord Hyata." The butler turned around so fast that Neji could barely follow his movements, the doors closed slowly behind him, leaving them outside to wait.

They all let out a collective breath. Lee spoke up first, "That man is very dangerous, I had trouble following his movements at times. He would be a challenge even for me." Neji and the others nodded their agreement.

In only took five minutes of waiting before the doors slowly opened again. The 'warrior-butler' strode out again, "The lord will see you now, he says to bring your friends as well."

Neji silently cheered, if lord Hyata was willing to talk to him then he might have a chance at getting a place to stay for at least the night. They followed the butler in as the doors slid shut behind them. The butler led them up a flight of stairs to the second floor, down a hall painted red with golden dragons on the walls and lined with suits of armor Neji and the others had never seen before. Then up a second flight of stairs to the third floor. There they walked down a hall painted the same way as the second floor, but this one was lined with golden statues of dragons in various poses, to a set of doors made of polished redwood. The butler bowed and stuck out his hand towards the door, "The lord awaits you inside his chambers." He then quickly turned and strode back down the hall.

Neji and the others watched him until he disappeared around the corner, "I suppose we should go in now." Neji turned towards the doors and found a small yellow rope like the one outside the front doors. He pulled it and heard a small gong go off behind the doors. A voice called out to them, "You may enter." Neji turned to the others to see Sakura shrug. Neji shrugged in return and put on his most hopeful face. The doors were heavy, but were so well balanced that it took almost no effort to push them open. They walked inside to be met by a sea of pillows, the floor was completely hidden in a rainbow of sitting pillows. Against the farthest wall sat an old man in a royal purple kimono with gold trimming. His long hair was as white as snow, and his eyes were so white that he appeared to have no pupils or iris at all. He motioned with his hand for them to have a seat, "Please sit, make yourselves comfortable."

Neji and the others complied, finding pillows only a few feet away from the old man to sit on. They had decided that Neji would be the one to speak, "I am Hyuuga Neji, These are my friends, Haruna Sakura, Rock Lee and Tenten. We are from the Hidden Village of the Leaf."

The old man nodded, "And I am Hyata Okinara, lord of this mansion and practically this town, though I don't wish it. I know who you are Neji, I remember you when you came over twelve years ago with your father. Hm, so your friends are Ninja as well? Humpff, I do not know how your family or anyone else can deal with being hired assassins." Okinara shook his head and sighed, "Well what are you doing so here in Bushi, so far from your home young Neji?"

Neji sighed, "That is a long story, and one that may be dangerous to you and your family if you knew of it. But the main reason why I'm here is because my friends and I need a place to stay, even if its just for the night, and maybe some extra clothes and food."

Okinara raised his white eyebrows, "Oh, well then, you and your friends can stay as long as you like and make use of all the faculties present in this complex. On one condition." Neji held his breath, "You must tell me everything on how you ended up here. You don't have to tell me now, but if you stay, I will not permit you to leave until you have told me everything."

Neji was stunned, he had expected some sort of payment, whether it be money or doing chores. Neji shook his head quickly to help clear his mind, he hadn't expected Okinara to be so kind and welcoming, "Okay, I will tell you everything. But I too would like to know some things as well." Okinara's face became one of mild interest, "I want to know why you and my father argued so much when I was here last. And why my father came here in the first place."

Okinara chuckled, "Very well young Neji. I must warn you though, some of the things you hear from me may lower your respect for your own clan."

Neji smiled, "I wouldn't surprised if my clan's history could get must worst." Neji stood up, followed by the others, "Oh, there are two others with us, but they are on the outskirts of town, due to the fact that, uh, neither of them have any clothing."

Okinara gave a look of utter surprise, "Well, I'm guessing that will be explained in our talk now won't it? Of course, Inzo will show you to your rooms, there you can find clothes and bring your other friends as well."

Neji and the others bowed before leaving, "Thank you for your kindness lord Hyata."

Okinara shook his "Oh come, come now Neji, lord Hyata is far too formal, you can call me simply Okinara. The only one who calls me lord in this house is Inzo, he refuses to call me anything else. Now go, I'm sure your other two friends are waiting for you."

Neji, Sakura, Tenten and Lee exited the room to find the same butler from before waiting for them. Neji bowed slightly to the butler, "Inzo-sama?" Inzo merely bowed in return and motioned them to follow him. He led them down to the first floor and then through several hallways and across two courtyards, before he stopped outside one of the buildings, this one was single story, with many doors and windows.

Inzo bowed to all of them again, "These are the guest rooms. As we have no guests at the moment other than you, you have your choice of rooms. They are all clean and furbished with clothing and sheets. The bathhouse is over there." Inzo pointed towards another building across the courtyard. He then strode away without another word.

Sakura frowned, "Guess he's the silent warrior type. Though I have no idea how someone like him could end up being a butler. I know he's old an all, but he looks like he should be a bodyguard or something."

Lee nodded in agreement, "That man, I'm telling you, I can tell he is a great warrior. Maybe he would be up for a little sparring later." He then turned to Neji, "Is it wise to tell Okinara everything we've been through? I do not doubt that we can trust him, but telling him this information can put him and his family in a lot of danger."

Neji watched as Inzo glided towards the central building, "I think Okinara and his family will be able to handle themselves if anything ever happens."

* * *

Hinata would've laughed at the sight of Naruto rolling around on the ground trying to get rid of the itchiness, except she was having the same problem as well. Though she was more discreet about her discomfort, resorting to just using her nails to scratch her thighs and arms. "I hope they return soon, its been over an hour." 

Naruto paused his rolling, and looked up at Hinata, "Yeah, Neji had better have clothes with him when he gets back, or I'm going to kill him." Hinata giggled at the semi-serious joke, making both of them almost forget about their discomfort. Almost.

Naruto heard the faint sound of feet approaching, and jumped up. He was surprised to see Hinata already standing before him, and facing the direction where the sound of feet was coming from, towards the town. Naruto growled, _That better be Neji with clothes, 'cause if its someone else, or Neji **without** clothes I'm going to kill'em._

Hinata turned to look at Naruto, recognizing the emotions in the growl, "Don't worry, its Neji and Tenten. I can… recognize their scent."

Naruto gave a confused look wondering what the hell she was talking about, but he experimentally sniffed the air anyway. He was downwind from the town, and was surprised that he could smell something that he could only describe as Neji, and the other was most definitely Tenten. Naruto was amazed at this new discovery, he was aware of the changes happening within him and Hinata, but he didn't know that they would be so strong, and so quick to develop.

Neji and Tenten topped the hill to find Hinata facing them and waiting, with Naruto behind her on all fours, actively sniffing the ground and everything on it. If Neji didn't know Naruto for the unpredictable ninja that he was, he would've been worried. "Uh-hum."

Naruto looked up to see Neji and Tenten staring at him. He jumped up to a standing position as if to hide the fact that he was sniffing the dirt, though in the back of his mind he was cataloguing everything he found in the scent of the ground. Apparently his new sense of smell didn't kick in unless he 'turned it on', he couldn't explain if he wanted to, but apparently he had to 'try' to use his heightened sense of smell in order for it to work. In the few minutes he had spent with his nose in the dirt, he had found out about everything that had crossed the area in the past two weeks, he wondered if this was how Kiba felt when he focused his chakra to his nose. Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head, "Hey guys, did you find a place to stay? And more importantly did you find us some clothes?"

Neji smiled, "Oh yes, we found a place for us to stay. And as for clothing these should do for now until you get to your room." Tenten tossed each of them a pair of plain brown robes.

Naruto caught his and had torn off all of the leaves and branches from his body before he realized what Neji had just said. "Me and Hinata get our own room?" Naruto slipped on the robes, and sighed, though his body still held the memory of constant itchiness, he could feel it slowly fade away as the soft cotton touched his skin, he sighed in relief, and went over to Hinata to help her put on her robe.

Neji and Tenten had politely turned their backs, Neji spoke towards the town. "We all get our own rooms Naruto. We're staying in a house larger than yours back in Konoha." Neji peeked over his shoulder to see both of them dressed and staring at him, mouths slightly agape.

Naruto grinned his boyish grin, "Man Neji, when I said get a place to stay you really brought home the bacon on that one. A mansion bigger than mine? Jeez, I haven't even been in all the rooms at my place yet." Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand, lacing his fingers with hers, "Well lead the way Neji. If we're staying in a mansion that means they gotta have a huge selection of clothes right? This is going to be awesome! I wonder if there's a ramen place around here?"

Hinata laughed, that was Naruto, a one track mind when it came to making himself comfortable and filling his stomach. She was looking to some relaxation finally. Ever since the destruction of the tree-house, the very place they had called home for nearly nine months, they had been running for nearly two days, looking for a place to stay, hide and gather their thoughts. There had been no time for explanations or reminiscing as they all stayed awake during the night, looking for any signs of pursuit. Not to mention that neither Hinata nor Naruto could get an ounce of sleep if they had wanted too, their make-shift clothing apparently attracted all sorts of insects and other annoying neighbors. They were all exhausted, and needed sleep. She knew after that though there was going to have to be a lot of explaining to do.

But at the moment she could only hold Naruto's hand gingerly as he pulled her along, and thank the heavens that he was still by her side.

* * *

"Wow! This place _is_ huge! Man, and its full of people too." Naruto pointed to the countless servants and the occasional noble walking through the gardens. Naruto got a far off look in his eyes, "I wonder if my house was like this when my family was alive." He sobered down quickly after that. 

Hinata squeezed his hand gently until he squeezed back, reassuring her that he was okay. She was noticing as time went by that they had to say less and less to each other to know what the other was feeling and sometimes even thinking. "I think your house would have been better than this one." She was rewarded with one of Naruto's dazzling smiles, the ones that somehow still seemed to make her melt from the inside out.

Neji stopped in front of the guest house, "This is it, Tenten and I are on the far left." He pointed to one of the doors, "Then Sakura, then Lee, you two will take one of the ones to the far right I guess." He turned to Naruto, "I think us coupled men should give the others some privacy, so it would best to put a room or two between you and everybody else."

Naruto laughed and playfully punched Neji's shoulder while Hinata rolled her eyes and laughed with the two men. Neji turned to head for his room, but called over his shoulder, "When you two are ready to talk, let us all know, there's a common room in the middle of the guest building."

Naruto felt his smile slip as he watched Neji disappear behind a door. He turned to Hinata, "We're going to have to tell them… everything, aren't we." It was a statement not a question.

Hinata nodded gently, "I've only been knowing for a little over two days now. But yes, they deserve to know. After all they've been helping protect you all this time, and more importantly they've been our friends this entire time. They have a right to know why all of this happened, why we left Konoha, why he had to train, why we were attacked, and how we were able to beat those monsters and Sasuke." They were both silent for a moment, taking in the consequences of telling their friends everything. Hinata broke the silence by giggling, Naruto gave her a confused look before she explained, "And we'll have to tell them why we lost all of our clothes."

Naruto burst out laughing and hugged Hinata, burying his face in her hair. After a moment he whispered into her neck, "They'll understand won't they? Like you did when I told you?"

Hinata nodded, "I think so, and I sure do hope so. Either way, we're going to tell them right?"

Naruto pulled away slowly and nodded his head, "Yep. Like you said, they deserve it." Naruto grinned, "Now I say we find our room and get some sleep. I am exhausted!"

As they walked towards one of the doors, Hinata ran her hand lightly down Naruto's back. "You know, we've been running for almost two days now. And because of everything that's happened, we… haven't really been able to spend as much time alone as I'd like. And if I remember correctly, I'm your fiancé now, correct?"

Naruto felt gossebumps crawl over his skin where Hinata touched him. He turned and picked Hinata up throwing her over his shoulder and bolting for the nearest room. Hinata laughing and kicking her feet the entire way.

Naruto nearly threw Hinata and himself onto the large bed. Hinata grabbed his head, lacing her fingers through his golden locks and pulling him into deep kiss. After a long moment they pulled away from each other, both of them dizzy from the experience, it had been only two days since their last kiss, but it had been two days too long.

Naruto breathed softly against the crook of her neck, "Tonight we'll tell them, okay?"

Hinata closed her eyes, as Naruto softly kissed her neck, "Yes… t-tonight."

But for the moment, they weren't going to worry about that.

* * *

Yes, I know, not whole lot happened, but now that I know where I'm going with this, I can guarantee that you'll love the next chapter. Or almost guarantee I guess. 

Now, if you will, GIVE ME REVIEWS, yourMaster is starved from lack of new chapter reviews. FEED ME...

**Chapter Preview:** Who is Okinara, why do the Hyata's and the Hyuuga's dislike each other (maybe even hate each other)? And the big confession you all have been waiting for.


	20. Samurai Myth

Alright, the moment you've all been asking about, and I know you've been waiting for. Just to warn you, there's not a whole lot of action in this one, but there is alot of information, and I know your going to hate the cut off at the end, but you know me, mr. cliffhanger.

Ooh, I got some interesting info yesterday. apparently my story is not the only one named "The Person I admire" There's one other with the name and its a Naruto fic as well, and about Hinata. It looked like it would have been interesting, but the author posted only one chapter and it was his last post, which was on March 21, 05. Apparently the "admire" in his title is capatolized, allowing us to have the same title. I always wondered why I typed a small 'a' for 'admire' and though about changing it, but I guess its good that I didn't, I wouldn't be able to have this title, and it was the only title I felt worthy for my story. Though **Frontoviok**'s story was rated K and mine is M, so I guess we're both on differing ends of the spectrum. Oh well.

Anyways, enough of my bantering and blathering and blahing, time for the story. Enjoy!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 20: Samurai Myth**

Neji lay next to Tenten, staring at her smooth skin, so much darker than his own, as she lay staring up at him. She smiled, which had the ability of making his thoughts go fuzzy every time she did it. "Hm… I enjoyed that."

Neji smiled, "I'm glad you did. So did I."

Tenten giggled and threw a pillow at him, he responded by throwing it back. But before she could return fire, he grabbed her and brought her to him, crushing the pillow between them, and planted a deep kiss upon her lips. He pulled away after a moment and looked into her eyes, "We really needed that didn't we. After everything that's happened in the last couple of days, we really needed at least a couple hours of relaxation."

Tenten smiled, "Yes we did, my love." She kissed him again, "Nothing like getting over something depressing by spending a couple of hours in bed with the most important thing in your life."

Neji chuckled, hugging her to him as he kissed the side of her neck. "I completely agree." She shivered as he whispered against her neck, and just as it seemed they were going to repeat what had happened only a few minutes ago, they heard a knock on the door.

Tenten groaned, "Wonderful timing whoever it is."

Neji smiled, "Its okay, we'll pick this up later, I promise." They both got up and started hunting for their clothes, Neji turned to the door, "Hold on a minute please!" After they were finally dressed somewhat decently, Neji strode over to their room's door and opened it.

On the other side stood both Sakura and Lee. Neji opened the door wider to let them both in, Sakura strode in, followed by Lee, they both went and sat on a couch on the far wall. Tenten frowned as she sat down next to Sakura, "What is it? You two look really serious."

Sakura sighed, "Naruto and Hinata say its time to talk. They told us to come and get both of you, and tell you that they'll meet us in the common room in about ten minutes." Sakura shook her head, there was no sign of mirth on her face "They seemed really, really serious about it guys."

Lee nodded his agreement, "She is right, it almost seemed as if they were afraid of telling us whatever it is they must tell us." Lee shook his head as well, mimicking Sakura perfectly, "I am afraid of what they have to tell us as well. Our friend Naruto, as far as I know, fears nothing that I know of, and yet he fears speaking to us."

Neji sat down in a chair across from the couch, "I'm not sure if any of us are really looking forward to hearing about what's going on. We've already gone through so much, but even so, I'm pretty sure Naruto and Hinata feel that we deserve to know. Something has been going on between them ever since the, uh, night they spent together."

Sakura laughed, breaking some of the tension, "Neji, they spent every night in the same room during the time we were at the tree-house."

Neji blushed and laughed as well, in turn making Lee and Tenten laugh. It was short-lived though as they all suddenly sat in somber silence. It had only been a little over two days since the place they had come to call home had suddenly been obliterated by an old friend they had not seen in years. There were a lot of happy memories in that place. It was going to be awhile before they'd be able to talk about the tree-house comfortably again, it would be an eternity before they were over it though.

Neji took a deep breath, calming himself, he had been waiting for this, he had been wanting to know how Naruto had beaten Sasuke and how little Hinata was able to beat one of those powerful monsters that Lee had almost killed himself defeating. Neji noticed that Lee's right arm hung limply by his side, unmoving, he'd ask Sakura about it later. Plus he wanted to know about the strange behavior Naruto and Hinata had been developing. He stood up out of his chair, "Alright, I guess we should head over to the common room." Tenten and Neji led the way, Sakura helped support Lee as they walked, his legs were far from being completely healed.

It was a short walk to the common room, it was a square room in the middle of the guest house that could easily sit twenty or so people, it was lined with comfortable couches, a fireplace in the middle of one wall and glass roof, it was all done in red with golden dragons painted on the walls. Neji could see it was dark out and the stars were shining bright. He hadn't realized it had gotten so late.

In the middle of the room sat Naruto and Hinata, both dressed in the same brown robes that Tenten had brought them earlier that day. They both looked up as Neji and the others entered the room. No one said anything as everyone took a seat on the large couch across from Naruto and Hinata.

They sat like that for several minutes without saying anything, the tension was so thick it felt like they were drowning underwater. Naruto suddenly took a deep breath and stood up abruptly, "Alright, I guess there's no reason to just sit around like a bunch of idiots." Naruto paused for a moment, trying to think of the right words, "I guess _I_ should start from the beginning."

Everyone sat in silence as Naruto told them about his past, and what his childhood was like, the very same description that he had given Hinata that night she was at his house, so many months ago. He retold them everything he knew about his clan, including things they didn't know, from the beginning to the very end, how the Hyuuga and Uzumaki clans hated each other due to an abusive use of the Uzumaki seals on the Hyuuga part, and how they sacrificed themselves to seal the Kyuubi away. He didn't tell them everything, just enough to give a general background before telling them the major part. He paused for a moment to allow all of that to sink in.

Sakura and Tenten both had tears streaking down their faces. They had no idea how harsh Naruto's past had been, the sadness radiating from him as he told them his story was almost palpable. Neji could only feel great pity well up inside of him, pity for Naruto and what he had gone through, though he did not show it, he knew Naruto didn't want their pity. Lee felt the same, and therefore was silent as well, though his face held one of deep concern.

Naruto sat down very slowly, "Now, that all the minor stuff is out of the way, its time I tell you my… my secret." Tenten, Sakura, Neji and Lee all sat rapt with attention, they were with him through all of this, is what they were trying to say with their eyes. Naruto and Hinata saw this and smiled slightly with appreciation, but they both quickly sobered at what was coming next. Naruto swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in his throat, "Before I tell you this, I just want you to know that I understand if your feelings toward me change… for the worse that is. I'll understand if you'd prefer that you didn't want to be around me, or if you'd prefer to go back to Konoha and leave me here. And I forgive you for any negative feelings you'll probably display towards me, it can only be expected after all."

All four of Naruto's friends opened their mouths to retort to such a foolish statement, but before they were able to say anything, Naruto held up his hand for silence. They didn't know why, but the grave face Naruto had made them realize just how serious this was going to be, they quickly silenced themselves and waited for Naruto to continue.

Naruto swallowed again, he was stalling he knew that, but he couldn't help it. It was hard enough telling Hinata, the person he loved most in the world, it was going to be hard telling four of his best friends and waiting for their reactions. Naruto steeled himself and plunged forward, "The reason why I was treated so harshly when I was a child, and the reason why everyone in my clan sacrificed themselves to stop the Kyuubi except me… is because… I… I _am_ the Kyuubi." Naruto opened the robe revealing his exposed stomach, and concentrated his chakra, releasing a small amount of the Kyuubi's… no, _his_ chakra to reveal the seal. Though now, it was almost half gone, Naruto figured it had to do with the demonic chakra fusing with his. "I am what my clan sealed the Kyuubi's spirit in, my clan needed a newborn to seal the Kyuubi in, and I was the only newborn in several years, no one knows why. The adults of the village know about this, but the Third forbade them to tell their children, that's why you guys didn't know. It's the reason why Itachi is after me, it's the reason why Orochimaru wants me dead, and it's the reason why I was able to… to beat Sasuke." Naruto covered himself up, and sat down next to Hinata, who immediately put her arms around him, and hugged him, giving him as much of her love as she could.

Sakura and the others sat in stunned silence, at first Sakura thought is was some sort of cruel joke but then he had showed them the seal. Everything fell into place, _everything_. She had always wondered why Naruto acted the way he did, why he was so annoying, so unpredictable, so determined. And now she knew, she knew why her parents told her to stay away from him when they sat to eat at the table. She would tell them how her day went at school, usually including how Naruto had ruined her chances with Sasuke over and over again, and her parents would tell her that the Uzumaki brat was nothing but trash and to stay as far away from him as possible, he was a bad influence. She _understood _him now, it was the strangest feeling, it was like looking through fog when she thought of Naruto, but now that fog was suddenly and violently blown away. But there was one thing she didn't feel… hate. She didn't feel hate, she _couldn't_ feel hate, Naruto was her friend, more than her friend really, how could she hate her very own brother? She loved him as a sister would, she felt pity for him, she felt awe at the extent of his powers and at his undying resolve, and she felt appreciation, for that very demon had saved them she realized. Naruto was good, demon or not. She felt no fear, no hate, what she felt was an all encompassing sadness, a sadness for Naruto and what he had gone through.

Naruto was surprised to feel Hinata unexpectedly pull away as a crying Sakura leapt into his arms, and pressed herself against him as she cried into his chest. Naruto couldn't figure out what to make of it, what was more confusing were the looks on the other's faces. Tenten was crying too, but smiling as well, Neji was smiling too, actually laughing really; and Lee had gotten up to sit on the other side of Naruto and pat him on the back.

Naruto shook his head violently, as if trying to jostle the puzzle pieces in his head so they would line up on their own. It didn't work. "OKAY! What the hell is going on? Sakura why are you crying? Tenten why are you crying _and_ smiling? Neji why the fuck are you laughing? And Lee what's up with the pat on the back exactly?" Naruto gently picked up Sakura and set her next to him between him and Lee, and gently wiped the tears from her face.

Sakura smiled at him as he wiped away her tears, "Naruto." He stopped and sat up, waiting for what came next. "How in the world, could I hate my own brother?"

Naruto sat frowning with a very confused look, until slowly, very slowly, did it start to come clear to him.

Tenten wiped away her tears and giggled, "Sakura and I are crying Naruto because we never realized all the pain you must have gone through and why. I'm smiling for the same reason Sakura is, how could I hate you? You're like a brother to me Naruto."

Neji nodded, "I'm laughing for the same reason Naruto, to think any of us could hate you was simply foolish. After everything we've been through, after all the laughs, all the arguments, all the life or death fights, we couldn't hate you for what you are even if we wanted to. You are Naruto, no matter what you have inside of you… if you're the vessel for the Kyuubi, then that is who you are, and we understand."

Lee laughed, and slapped Naruto's back again, causing him to grunt in pain this time, it was probably going to bruise now, "They all speak the truth my comrade. You are more than just a friend now, you are the closest thing to family to all of us. And to have wrestled with such a beast inside of you, for seventeen years, that is a feat that not even I or the great Gai-sensei could handle. You are a true hero my friend."

Hinata smiled, and hugged Naruto, while doing so she whispered into his ear, "Told you they'd understand." After a moment she whispered again, "Now I think you need to tell them everything about me too."

Naruto frowned and turned to her, "Why me? Its your family too."

Hinata smiled, "We will together." She turned to everyone else, "There's still a lot more that we need to tell you guys." Everyone quickly sat down on the couch in front of Naruto and Hinata.

Sakura smiled, "After that, I think you guys should realize that there's nothing that can make us hate you."

Naruto and Hinata nodded, but they were still serious, for they were not going to like the rest either way. Together they spoke of the main reason why the Hyuuga and Uzumaki clans hated each other. They spoke of the imprisonment of Shichubi, and how being fused to a woman Shichubi was able to pass on the ability of the Byakugan through the blood shared among all the Hyuugas. They told them how Hinata's mother was the last to hold Shichubi, how she was able to hold on to her until she gave birth to Hanabi, and since Hinata was the first born female, she possessed the seal which Shichubi was transferred to upon her mother's death. Naruto, through many blushes and stutters, told them how Kyuubi was able to force Hinata and Shichubi to fuse so that Hinata would not die young like her mother, and in doing so Kyuubi used up the chakra separating him and Naruto and now they too were fusing as well. Naruto then told them how he beat Sasuke, though it brought tears to his eyes, and Hinata spoke of how she defeated the jigokinu.

There was a moment of silence as they all let the information slowly sink in. Suddenly Neji leapt from his seat and began to pace back and forth, "I can't believe this!"

Tenten got up and put a hand on Neji's arm, "Neji?" Her voice was full of concern and worry.

Neji yelled, "I can not believe Hiashi! That bastard!" Tenten, Sakura and Lee looked at him in confusion, Neji didn't seem to notice though, he continued his pacing, "Don't you see? He knew that his wife was going to die, he knew Hinata would receive the demon and die an early death as well, and that's why he treated her like utter shit! Because she was a harborer for the demon! How could he love my aunt, Hinata's mother, and then turn around and show such utter disgust towards Hinata?" Neji's head suddenly snapped up as he realized something else, "This was why he wanted Hinata to return so badly! He knew that Naruto would fuse Hinata and Shichubi, he knew! He knew that…" Neji turned to Naruto, "… that you would save my cousin's life." He hugged Naruto then, startling him, "You are now and forever more my blood brother Naruto, on the blood of the Hyuuga I claim you as part of my flesh and blood and the entirety of my family, may all here bear witness. If it weren't for you Hinata would've died an unfulfilled life. I am forever in your debt my friend, more so than I already was."

Hinata's mouth gaped, "Neji-niisan! A-are you sure you want t-to do that? I mean f-father will be… well in a rage to say the least."

Neji's face turned red from anger, but he calmed himself before speaking, "No offense Hinata, but my uncle can shove it up his ass for all I care."

Naruto's eyes widened, something serious had just happened, so serious it had caused Hinata to stutter and Neji to completely insult Hiashi. "What the hell just happened?"

Hinata turned to Naruto and held his face in her hands to force his eyes to look into hers, she wanted his full attention on this. Everyone else was just as pissed off as Neji and just as confused as Naruto. Hinata spoke in a very serious tone, "Neji has just fully inducted you into the Hyuuga clan Naruto. It was something the clan used to do before Shichubi, its how we increased our numbers in the beginning, we had to or else the clan would've gone extinct. Its not done anymore, but there has been no law to forbid it. I guess they didn't think anybody would do it anymore since its so looked down upon. But though the branch family has a lot of restrictions compared to the main family, they still retain the ability to induct outside members into the clan. You are now officially apart of my family Naruto." She suddenly smiled, "That means I no longer need to ask father permission to marry you. There's nothing he can do, once someone is inducted with at least two other witnesses there is no going back, not even the head of the family can change that. You are now entitled to all the family secrets, etiquette and techniques, including Jyuuken and though you can't use the Byakugan, you are still allowed to learn about it and all its abilities."

Naruto sat down heavily, everyone else sat down as well in stunned silence. Hinata sat next to Naruto as Neji continued to stand and mumble profanities about Hiashi. Naruto looked up at Neji, "Neji… are you sure…"

"Do not ask me that Naruto. It is done, I cannot undo it, and I am as sure as the very earth we stand on, you are my brother." Neji turned to Naruto and smiled, "I do not expect to take the place of Sasuke Naruto, but I am _proud _to have you as my brother, if you will have me as well."

Naruto stood up and returned Neji's earlier hug, "Neji, _I_ am proud to be your blood brother." Naruto laughed, "I guess I should call you bro now, huh?" Neji laughed as well. The mood had suddenly lightened with their laughter.

Naruto suddenly thought of something, now that the general mood was one of joy as everyone stood and, though they were still upset about Hiashi, congratulated Naruto and told Hinata how much they loved her. "I have one last announcement to make!" Everyone turned to see Naruto put his arm around Hinata, Hinata began to smile uncontrollably, "Going back on what Hinata-chan said about not having to ask that bastard Hiashi for marriage permission, sorry Hinata." Hinata nodded that it was okay, she hadn't been feeling too happy towards her father for the past few days. "Anyway, it's a good thing she doesn't have to ask, because as of two nights ago, we are officially engaged!"

Sakura and Tenten as one squealed loud enough to break glass and nearly tackled Hinata to the ground. Lee jumped up laughing and slapped Naruto's back, definitely leaving a bruise that time, Neji smiled, and hugged Naruto, "Who better to have marry Hinata than my own brother?"

Naruto hugged him back, it was Neji's acceptance that he was really looking for, "Thanks big bro." They both laughed at that.

Lee suddenly limped away to a section of wall, "Excuse me everyone!" He waited until he had all their attention before he pushed in the section of wall, causing it to slide upward, revealing a rack of refrigerated wine bottles and a set of crystal glasses. "After everything we just heard, about Naruto and Hinata and their struggles, Neji and Naruto becoming blood brothers and Hinata and Naruto getting married; I say we fucking celebrate!" He pulled out a wine bottle, shook it and popped the cork spraying everyone in a shower of vintage wine.

They partied that night, celebrating the engagement, the blood brother bond, and overall their undying friendship. They spoke for many hours afterwards, to the very hours of early morning. They spoke about fun things, usually about their secrets and funny baby stories; about memories, and about serious things that mostly consisted of Naruto's and Hinata's fusions to their demons. But through it all there was an air of happiness, relaxation and understanding.

Something was happening to them, and none of them would realize it until a while later, but without their knowing they were taking the first steps in becoming a true family.

* * *

The next couple of days were spent talking and spending time in the common room together. The girls would go off together and talk about the guys, and about Tenten's and Hinata's engagements, while the guys would spend time in the common room playing cards or in the training grounds sparring with each other while servants and nobles watched with interest. Of course Neji and Tenten, and Naruto and Hinata spent as much time as possible together as well, as did Sakura and Lee; and though they were teased about it, Sakura defended herself by saying she was only staying with her patient to keep an eye on him. No one fell for it. 

These were things they had done together for many months now, but it was different now. There was a greater connection between them, a connection that can only happen when two or more people are true friends. They acted and talked with each other as if they were family, especially since Naruto started calling Neji 'bro' and Neji calling Naruto 'brother'. They openly shared their secrets with each other, hiding nothing from their newly found brothers and sisters. Normally it would have taken longer, but they were quickly getting over the loss of their home, for from the fiery destruction that consumed the tree-house, a bond was born from the ashes of that traumatic experience. A bond that could not be severed. Ever.

On the fourth day, Neji went to speak to the lord of the house, Hyata Okinara.

* * *

"Ah Neji. I was wondering when you'd finally get around to having that talk with me." Okinara stood up from the pillow he was sitting on, "Come. If you don't mind I'd prefer to walk through the gardens while we talk, it is relaxing and private there." 

Neji nodded, "I don't mind, a walk through the gardens would be nice." He followed Okinara down to the first floor, then outside, where they walked through the many courtyards and unconnected buildings until they reached an area enclosed by the walls of four buildings set into a square. In this courtyard there were numerous cherry blossom trees and a rainbow of multicolored flowers. It reminded him of the gardens at the Hyuuga house, but nearly three times as large. They walked slowly along a stone foot path through the private forest as butterflies of all shapes and colors flitted about them in silence. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful garden.

Okinara walked in silence for a moment before speaking, Neji realized he was a very large man, for he walked hunched over, as many old men did, but he was still just as tall as Neji. Neji figured Okinara was taller than Naruto. The old man turned to watched the butterflies, his voice floating to Neji through the still air, "I suppose you want to hear about the animosity between our two clans before you tell me of your ordeals. So I will tell you of what I know."

Neji waited silently, he had always wanted to know why his father and Okinara had fought when they had come to Bushi so long ago. Okinara sighed, "I do not know much, but I do know that in the ancient days when the Hyuuga clan was still young, they had had a disagreement with a rival clan. The Uzumaki I believe they were called, apparently they were seal masters, and the Hyuugas had misused a number of their seals."

Neji remained silent, though Okinara did not know, he knew very well what the Hyuugas and the Uzumakis argued about. "Excuse me Okinara-sama, but what do the Uzumaki have to do with the Hyata."

Okinara chuckled, "Such impatience young Neji! Well, the Uzumaki really have nothing to do with the Hyata, but the disagreement between your clan and the Uzumaki explain the disagreement between our clans." Neji nodded and waited in silence for Okinara to continue. "Now, apparently the misuse of these ancient seals somehow gave the ability to use the Byakugan to a woman in your family. And every child she gave birth to and every child those children had with the other clan members had the ability to use the Byakugan. But there were clan members that never inherited the Byakugan, for they were not born from this woman, or her children, but they were still part of the Hyuuga. These non-Byakugan Hyuugas eventually became the branch family, and the Hyuuga clan, along with the Uzumaki became official Ninja clans. Apparently many years later a variant of the Byakugan was born, the coveted Sharingan, which became the Uchiha clan if I remember correctly."

Okinara stopped to inspect several flowers, "You can imagine how upset the Hyuugas who couldn't use the Byakugan were. They rebelled, first having members of the Uzumaki release them from those cursed seals. They were thrown back though, for even without the seals, the Byakugan was too powerful and branch family members back then only knew basic ninjutsu. So they ran away, taking everyone of the branch family with them. They ran here to Bushi, where they began their own clan, the Hyata."

Okinara turned from his inspection of the flower and continued walking, Neji was in stunned silence at this new tidbit of information about his family. Okinara was not finished however, "So now you know who we really are, I suppose the Hyuuga were still able to form a branch family though, and of course used the bird-cage seal; tell me Neji are you branch family or main family?" Neji opened his mouth to say 'branch family' but suddenly remembered that Naruto had removed his seal and he did not want to this man to know about Naruto's abilities, no matter how kind he was. "I'm main family" he removed his forehead protector to show his proof.

Okinara nodded, "Of course, after all your father was Hiashi's twin brother. Now back to my story, we Hyatas were able to make a meager living using our basic ninja skills to aid this small village, though it was named Hilldell back then. One day a mysterious group of sword wielding warriors appeared in Hilldell. They called themselves Samurai, and they were from the dying Dragon clan. They apparently had traveled a great distance, from the very far north, past the great mountain chain above the Rock country. There were only forty of them at the time, but they took over the town of Hilldell as if they were an entire army. At first we Hyatas resisted, but our taijutsu, the only thing the branch family was ever really good at back then, was nothing compared to these Samurai's brand of physical combat, and though we had ninjutsu, they had something vastly different and far more powerful. They called it Iaido, or 'Way of the Sword'." Okinara chuckled, "We didn't stand a chance, and so we surrendered the very first day.

Now Neji was really stunned, "B-but Okinara-sama! The true Samurai you speak of are just myths, they aren't real."

Okinara smiled slyly, "Oh, so you know a little about the Samurai, most have never even heard of them this far south. But let me assure you Neji, they are very, very real. The Samurai you're used to are probably hired thugs wielding cheaply made katanas. But real Samurai were warriors of a different caliber, wielding swords that could cut through stone like butter." Okinara chuckled again, "Oh we thought we were dead then, the Samurai almost made us perform seppeku in shame of our defeat. But we were very lucky, for as I said, they were a dying clan. They were interested in our ninjutsu, they found it very interesting, though they had heard stories of ninja themselves, and by their very nature ninjas and samurai are natural enemies. Like cats and dogs, to put it simply. Their differing codes of conduct simply do not allow them to live peacefully with each other, I suspect the two societies moved far away from each other a long time ago to avoid conflict."

Okinara stopped to stare at the largest of the cherry trees. "Enough of my ponderings though. The samurai eventually came to trust us, and we the Hyata ninja clan and the Dragon samurai clan merged after several generations. And now we are the Hyata Dragon clan of the samurai. Normally this would not have been allowed, but as luck would have it, these two hills that this town sits between are loaded with the purest iron ever found. And so we were able to open a trade route with the northern samurai clans, where smiths would come for miles to buy the best stocks of iron ore to use in their katana forges. The northern samurai still hate us, but they dare not attack their best resource for iron, not to mention we are a large and powerful clan now. The small village of Hilldell grew, and the Hyata became very wealthy, eventually the village was renamed Bushi, which in the samurai order is the warrior class. After all we sell weapons and armor here." Okinara turned to Neji who had been mostly silent through this, "And now you know why your father and I fought. Hiashi had obviously sent him to try and bring us back and maybe pry the samurai secrets from us, and of course I refused. I haven't seen a Hyuuga since, until of course you and your cousin came." Okinara smiled, "Now that I have told you what I wanted, it is now your turn young Neji."

Neji nodded and began with the assignment to protect Naruto from Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru. He explained who Itachi and Orochimaru were and what they had done, he told him of their training in the tree-house, and of the eventual attack from Sasuke and the two jigokinu. Though through all of this he left out everything concerning Kyuubi and Shichubi, his friends were family now, he would betray them to no one, no matter how well-meaning they were.

Okinara raised his eyebrows at the end of Neji's explanation, he was silent for several minutes as he mulled the information in his head. Neji did the same with what Okinara had told him.

Okinara broke the silence, "I guess we share something in common Neji. You did not think samurai were real, and I did not think it possible to create a jigokinu. I am amazed that you and your friends were able to defeat these beasts. And what's more, the Uchihas still live, though it is only one member now, and he is your enemy, and you say you have an Uzumaki Naruto with you? So there is a survivor among the Uzumakis as well, very interesting Neji, and a very interesting story. Thank you for telling me the truth."

Okinara turned to head back out of the garden, Neji quickly followed. "Neji, I would like to speak to your cousin Hinata, I believe she deserves to know what I told you and I would like to tell her myself if you do not mind."

Neji nodded, "Very well, I think she deserves to know too." Neji took the lead and brought them back to the guest house, though when they arrived, Neji realized that this _was_ Okinara's house and he probably knew his own way to the guest rooms. Neji excused himself and went to the common room to see who he could find. He found Naruto, Hinata and Lee sitting around a table playing a game of 'Rummy'.

Naruto looked up and smiled, "Yo, bro! Where you been man? We need someone else to play here."

Neji shook his head, "Not now brother, I just had a very interesting talk with Okinara-sama." That seemed to get Lee and Hinata's attention as well. "I told him everything that he _needed_ to know about us. About our current situation and most of what happened when we were attacked." He turned to Naruto and Hinata, "Apparently they are distantly related to us, they were the Hyuuga who didn't get Shichubi's Byakugan, though he knows nothing about the demon. He wants to talk to you Hinata, he said he wants you to know the truth behind our family."

Hinata snorted, "It sounds like we teenagers know more history than he does."

Neji shrugged, "Trust me, there are things that he told me that you have to hear for yourselves."

Lee and Naruto shrugged and got up, followed by Hinata, Naruto stretched before following Neji, "I guess we can continue our game in a little bit."

They followed Neji outside where Hyata Okinara waited, though Inzo the samurai butler had apparently joined him, complete with his katana and wakizashi. Neji frowned, "Inzo-sama? You are a samurai?"

Okinara strode forward to meet them, "Yes, every noble here is a samurai Neji, and some of the servants to, like Inzo for example." His eyes brightened on Hinata, "Ah, the daughter of Hiashi, I have some interesting things to tell you about your father. If you will come with me, we can take a walk in the garden."

Hinata shrugged and made to follow Okinara, Naruto stepped up too, "I want to hear this too, after all I'm Hyuuga also." Hinata smiled and nodded, while Okinara gave a very confused look. Hinata explained to him how Neji had inducted Naruto into the family.

Okinara sighed, "Ah, I see, well Naruto if you don't mind I'd like to talk to Hinata first, and then I'll speak to you."

Naruto frowned, confused, "I don't know why you can't just tell both of us. Wouldn't it be easier that way? Instead of repeating it twice you could just repeat it once."

Okinara ignored him though and turned around, "Hinata if you will come with me now."

Hinata frowned, "Okinara-sama, I appreciate your hospitality, but I do not appreciate someone, no matter how noble, being so blatantly rude to my fiancé."

Okinara sighed and turned around very slowly, "You leave me no choice then, I was hoping to do this somewhere where your friends would not interfere, but I see now that I have no choice." His voice had changed, it was no longer warm and welcoming, but distant and cold.

Naruto growled, "What the _hell_ are you talking about old man?"

Okinara smiled, "I'm talking about _this_." He disappeared in a blur of motion, leaving nothing but dust in his wake. Hinata was suddenly pulled away, and before anyone knew it, Okinara was standing in the spot he had started out in holding Hinata roughly by the arm. "You move so slowly boy." Okinara shook the robes from his other hand and crooked his fingers, like a clawed-hand, where small points of blue fire appeared on the tips of his fingers. Naruto could only watch in horror as Okinara slammed his fingers into Hinata's stomach, "Reveal yourself Shichubi!"

Neji instantly realized what was happening. Okinara had lied, he had known about Shichubi all along, and he knew that since Hinata was the daughter of the head of the family that she possessed the seven-tailed cat demon. In slow motion, he, Naruto and Lee lunged forward at Okinara as one.

But it was too late, Okinara had gotten what he wanted. He tore off Hinata's shirt in one swift motion, revealing the newly emerged seal, "So I was right, you _are _the seven-tail jinchuuriki. Ironic that you would be engaged to the nine-tail." Okinara threw Hinata at the oncoming ninja. Naruto caught her, knocking both of them to the ground. Okinara had thrown her with greater force than anticipated for an old man.

Naruto felt his skin go cold. He knew. He knew about Kyuubi and Shichubi, he had known all along. He had used Neji to give him his confirmation. Naruto looked at Hinata, her white colored seal he realized was actually disappearing, he had seen it that night Kyuubi had saved her. Now though it was more than halfway gone, farther along in the fusion than his own seal. _Okinara doesn't know about our fusion!_ Naruto grinned at Hinata. Somehow she understood.

Okinara turned his back at the oncoming Neji and Lee, "Inzo, take care of the brats."

Inzo silently stepped forward and in one smooth motion drew his sword and swung it in a downward arc at the air in front of him. Lee sensed it at the last second and pushed Neji to the side as he jumped in the opposite direction. The ground between them exploded with an invisible force tearing the hard rock and dirt to shreds.

Neji was dumb-founded and a little deaf for a second, the explosion was very loud. He had felt nothing, but Inzo had done something apparently, and Lee had just barely sensed it in time, if it wasn't for that and his speed they'd be dead now.

Okinara turned back to face them, "Oh, still alive are we? Very well." Okinara shook off his royal purple Kimono and straightened his back. His body was covered in old scars that crisscrossed his well formed muscles. Neji had been right, he was a lot taller than Naruto. Okinara smiled as Neji, Lee, Hinata and finally Naruto stood up, "You see, normally I don't like to take jobs like these and get paid for it, it reminds me too much of what my ancestors did as ninjas. But the amount that I have been offered by this Itachi fellow is too much to pass up, it will be enough to buy myself an army and finally dispose of those annoying northern samurai." Okinara laughed an old man's cackle as he drew his katana and three other samurai joined his and Inzo's side.

Naruto could feel the demonic chakra begin to well up inside him and Hinata, he didn't know what these guys were, but he wasn't going to let them take Hinata and give her to Itachi. He felt a deep hatred for Okinara right then, helping to fuel the demonic rage that was about to erupt inside of him.

Neji and Hinata already had their Byakugans activated, and Lee had released the first celestial gate, even though he was in pain from running now. They were ready to fight within a split second of realizing the menace, they had trained together for over eight months now, and they had become a true team, more coordinated than ever before after the bonding they had just gone through.

Neji felt even more hate for Okinara than Naruto, he had trusted this man and had allowed him to bring him and his friends into his home, where he was simply biding his time to confirm his suspicions and take away his cousin and newfound brother. He would have none of it, he would die before he let Okinara get away with it. "You will die by my hand Okinara, you traitorous snake!"

Okinara laughed, "Just because I am samurai does not mean I didn't keep some of my ninja roots, when they were convenient, young Neji. Itachi will be pleased when I hand him not one, but two jinchuuriki." Suddenly the mirth from Okinara's face was suddenly wiped away, as if it never existed, and a voice that froze the blood of the Konoha ninjas emitted from the corrupt samurai, "You will not leave here…

…alive that is."

* * *

I know, you guys hav ehtis love/hate relationship with my cliffhangers, but deal with it! Sticks out tongue 

Now you know what I want, and I better damn well get it! I want sex!... uh, and reviews too if you don't mind...

**Chapter Preview:** The Way of the Sword. Its time to see what the samurai of legend can really do, and see what their honor is _really_ made of.


	21. The Way of the Sword

Alright! Woohoo! Awsome! Like... Dude!... and I have no idea what I'm talking about. No one pay attention to the crazy man, just move along, just move along.

Anyway, you all get to learn why smurai are so different and also, so dangerous. Hee hee hee. Ha ha ha! This fight should be interesting, at least I think it is, its no where near the final battle between Sasuke and Naruto, but it should keep you guys entertained. The next chapter will reveal the next step of our heroes. Oh, acouple of you are worried about Hinata and Tenten pregnancies, no need to fear, I agree with you, being nearly 17 and having a kid that early is not a good thing. We'll hear more about that later.

Well, not much else to say other than THANK YOU! I am in love with every single one of you who review for me, I love you guys! Oh yeah, one more thing, 3nj0y!**

* * *

Chapter 21: The Way of the Sword **

Okinara laughed, maniacally almost. He was not the humble old man that Neji had gotten used to over the past couple of days, he was a monster. A man just as bad as his uncle, Hiashi, a man that only cared about money and power and spoke of his honor as if it gave him a right to that power. Neji could feel the hate boiling deep inside of him, a kettle of boiling water about to overflow. It was his idea to come to this man's house and stay there, it was his belief they would be safe. This was his fault for being too trusting of his family ties, he should've known better than to trust someone who used to be Hyuuga. He realized suddenly, as he faced Okinara in his Jyuuken stance, that the only people he considered real family now were the very friends he traveled with. Neji glared at Hyata Okinara with the heat of a thousand suns, he would not allow them to die.

Naruto knew that he hated this man, he hated him like he hated Itachi. After all this man worked with the lowlife who called himself an Uchiha, so they must not be too different from each other. Plus he kept calling him and Hinata jinchuuriki, a term that he absolutely hated. His eyes had long since turned red as his fox-stripes thickened and his nails and canines sharpened, his brother had made the pronouncement that he would kill Okinara himself, so Naruto decided he'd just take his anger out on the men who were aiding him. Naruto focused his slitted eyes on Inzo, the so called 'butler' of the Hyata mansion, Inzo had betrayed them just as much as Okinara, he would have to do with killing him instead.

Okinara stopped laughing for a moment, "Ah, this feels so good! I can almost smell and feel the money now!" Okinara turned his gaze to the fuming Neji, "And you, _Branch_ family member, are the one I should be thanking. Itachi had been counting on you coming to my house the entire time." Okinara laughed again at the shocked look on Neji's face, "What? You don't really think I was fooled by you, do you? I knew your father was branch family, and so are you. Your lack of seal is easy to explain, after all you are friends with the last Uzumaki, the last Seal-Master, are you not? And as for Itachi, heh heh, he had beat you here by nearly a day. He told me you'd most likely come to my home, you and two jinchuuriki, one a female Hyuuga from the main family, and the other a surviving Uzumaki." Okinara grinned, showing all of his teeth, "Well, I wasn't too keen on fighting two jinchuuriki, after all I had heard of what they could do. But Itachi said that being samurai would give me an advantage, and not to mention the amount of money he's offering! Its enough to buy this village, and its mines, a hundred times over!"

A feigned look of puzzlement came over Okinara, "You know I have no idea where he is right now, He said he'd return after I captured you 'alive', he seemed to stress that point quite a bit. So, in order for my payload to return, I'm going to capture you. At least you two." He pointedly looked at Naruto and Hinata, "The others can die for all I care. So I guess there's only one more thing to ask. Are we going to do this the easy way, where you come with me to a nice little cage and nobody gets hurt? Or are we going to do this the **_Hard_ **way?"

Neji charged forward, he had no weapons, leaving them in his room and believing they were safe. He focused chakra in his hands instantly, his palms facing outward as he aimed for Okinara's heart.

Okinara grinned and stood there, taking the hit as if it were nothing. Neji's eyes widened when his palm hit Okinara's scarred chest, it was liking hitting solid steel. But even more shocking was what happened to his Jyuuken chakra, it flew towards the heart's inner coil system, but then suddenly broke around it, like water hitting a pole. It was if there was a wall around Okinara's skin and his insides as well. Neji jumped back quickly, putting distance between himself and Okinara. "Shit."

Naruto frowned, Okinara took Neji's hit like he was being punched by a child. Nothing had happened, the bastard should've been on the ground coughing up blood and dieing already. "Neji? What the hell just happened?"

Neji shook his head, "I… I don't think my or Hinata's Jyuuken are going to work on these guys Naruto."

Hinata growled, a deep husky sound emitting from her throat. Her lavender eyes had turned snow white, burning like white fire, as her nails and canines sharpened, and dark 'cat' stripes appeared on her face and arms. "We'll see how much Jyuuken he can handle." Hinata lashed out with her and Shichubi's combined chakra, wrapping it around Okinara's heart and blocking all the chakra holes at once.

Okinara grimaced and dropped to one knee clutching his chest as Hinata continued to squeeze out his life force. Okinara, though sweating and shaking, grinned, "Your Jyuuken is very powerful… little girl… the demon locked inside you perhaps?" He laughed, "Sadly… it will not be enough to defeat a samurai."

Hinata could only stare, stunned, as Okinara casually stood up and shook his shoulders as if shaking off some dirt. Hinata's Jyuuken was shaken off like so much dirt. "How…?"

Okinara, grinned sadistically, "You have no idea the capabilities of a samurai girl. Tricks like Jyuuken do not work on us, for our chakra has been trained to work differently than yours. Unlike you ninja who only emit chakra when using a jutsu, samurai train for years to emit their chakra _constantly_."

Naruto frowned, "That's fucking impossible. You'd die from chakra depletion." How the hell could someone constantly emit chakra at all times? Not even he, with his insane stamina and his Kyuubi chakra on top of that, could do that.

Okinara was apparently enjoying this little teaching session. "Oh it is possible my dear little jinchuuriki. You see, the training that all samurai go under, which involves focusing the mind to heights beyond normal humans, allows us to tap into an unknown part of our anatomy that allows regeneration of chakra. So you see, as we use up our chakra, we are constantly replenishing it. And the more skilled the samurai, the more chakra he can emit constantly as he is able to regenerate it faster. Also, being able to tap into this unknown part of the human body, our chakra has to change dramatically to be able to regenerate so quickly. It becomes like flowing water, or ever moving wind, compared to the raging fire or stable earth you ninja are used to. And so water douses fire while wind erodes earth. I don't know how to explain it any better than using those analogies."

Hinata's eyes widened as an epiphany struck her. "Your saying your… _altered_ chakra is a near complete opposite of _our_ chakra! So your chakra nullifies ours! So when we attack, which is our fire, your defenses, or water naturally puts it out. And when we defend with our earth against your wind, your attack will eventually erode our defenses."

Okinara nodded happily, "Very good little brat! Very good indeed." Okinara paused, his impossibly large grin getting larger, "But there is more to this than you know girl. It is said that a samurai who has achieved a level where his chakra regeneration is faster than his chakra output becomes an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction for a limited amount of time." Okinara had a craving look upon his face, "Apparently no one has ever reached that level, for no one knows what happens afterwards. Some think you die from an overload of power, others think you 'burn' yourself out and are unable to use chakra ever again. I? I personally think one will become a living god! And with the money I'm going to be getting I'll be able to build an army, destroy the northern tribes and steal the knowledge of the juggernaut from that forbidden library they always keep under close guard." Okinara laughed again, the Konoha ninja were beginning to think Okinara was insane. Maybe he was. Okinara cackled with uncontrolled fervor, "And I… I will become a GOD!"

Neji had had enough of this, if Jyuuken wasn't going to work he'd just have to beat the living shit out of him. Neji charged at the same time Lee, Hinata and Naruto leapt at their chosen targets.

* * *

Sakura, and Tenten were in the baths again. It was their second time that day they decided to relax in the steaming heat of the natural springs. 

Hinata had been with them not too long ago, but she had left early, stating she wanted to see Naruto. Tenten and Sakura had merely grinned. They noticed that in the past couple of days, ever since their engagement had been announced Hinata seemed to be glued to Naruto's side. Though Sakura had pointed out that Tenten had done the same thing for the first couple of weeks when Neji and her were first engaged.

Almost immediately after Hinata had left, Tenten had started a conversation that Sakura had been trying to avoid for months.

"Oh come on Sakura! I've been trying to get a chance to talk to you about this. First I was spending too much time with Neji, then while Hinata's around all we've been talking about is Naruto. We are going to talk about this now." Tenten paused, a look of sympathy invading her brown eyes, "You _need_ to talk about this, Sakura."

Sakura looked away for long while, her eyes empty and devoid of life. But no matter how much she tried, she couldn't keep up the attitude of indifference, it just wasn't her. Tenten waited patiently, and knowing that she'd be there for her, Sakura could feel the emotions rise up and overwhelm her. "I… I loved him so much!" Tears spilled freely from her eyes as Tenten wrapped her arms around her and petted her hair, making soothing sounds.

Ever since the tree-house had been destroyed, ever since _he_ had died, Sakura had tried to hide her torment as much as possible during the few days they had ran and then hid in this village. She had tried to be strong, tending everyone's wounds constantly, especially Lee's. She rarely left his side. But underneath all the calm and reassuring words, turmoil had brewed, Sakura had been torn to pieces, pieces that she had no idea how to put back together. She knew Naruto was having it even worse than her, through all the jokes and pranks, the only one keeping him from breaking down was Hinata. Sakura had seen through Naruto's mask, and Tenten had seen through hers.

"I don't know what to do Tenten. I don't know… I…" Sakura couldn't handle it, she collapsed into sobs once again.

Tenten rested her cheek on top of Sakura's head, for awhile and let her near sister cry herself silent before speaking. "You can weep, and you can mourn Sakura. But you can't change what's already happened." Sakura looked up, disbelief in her eyes. "You can't change what happened Sakura, if you could, I think Naruto would've already found a way. All you can do is make sure you never forget him. But after you're done crying for him, once you're done mourning him, remember that there are others waiting here for you. Me, Neji, Naruto, Hinata and… well, Lee. We're here for you, and if you don't want anything to happen to anyone else, protect them, and then be grateful that you are still alive to protect them, and that the ones that are still alive, are alive." Tenten sighed, "And I am positive that in the end, he loved you as much as you did him."

Sakura, was listening intently, what Tenten was telling her was important, probably the most important thing in her life. She couldn't help but wonder where Tenten had gotten such sagely wisdom. "Do… do you really think he did, Tenten?"

Tenten smiled warmly, "Yes, I know he did. And knowing that he loved you, he would want to you to miss him, mourn him, and never forget about him." Sakura nodded her head slowly in agreement, "But." Tenten held up her finger, "But, knowing that, you should also know that someone in love wants the person they love to be happy, even if its not with them. Sasuke would want you to be happy Sakura, after you had cried for him, he'd want you to move on and find someone who would be able to do what he couldn't. To be with you, protect you, and make you happy again." Tenten's eyes were full of empathy for Sakura, "Though I know you don't want to think about anyone else taking Sasuke's place in your life Sakura, just remember that there is always a light at the end of every dark tunnel; you just need to keep walking towards it, and before you know it you'll eventually come out of it."

Sakura smiled then, a real smile, one filled with hope and appreciation. "Thanks Ten." She hugged her near sister then, embracing her as a sister would another sister. Tenten had been right, though she hadn't really talked that much, she had needed to get out her emotions and have someone assure her that it would be okay. She had been doing it herself so much for the past few days that she hadn't realized she needed it to. She reminded herself to tell Hinata to do this same thing with Naruto. He probably needed it more than she did, and maybe when they both felt ready, they could both talk about him together. They could both remember Sasuke.

Just as she was about to thank Tenten again an explosion like dynamite rang through the mansion. The sound was not too far away from them, near the guest house. The two girls looked at each other thinking the same thing. Their friends were in danger. As one they grabbed their clothes from where they were folded next to the springs, dressed only enough to cover themselves and ran towards the explosion, leaving their shoes and the majority of their clothes behind.

* * *

Inzo dodged Naruto's chakra enhanced claws frantically, but the demon vessel wouldn't slow down. He kept coming at him with the same rage intensified attacks as before, one after another, Inzo had a sinking feeling that this Uzumaki Naruto was merely beginning to fight. 

Naruto was getting very annoyed, ever since he had started attacking the seventy plus year old samurai, Inzo had been merely dodging all of his attacks. Every punch and kick he aimed at the geezer was met by empty air as the old man smoothly slid out of the way of each blow. _Why doesn't the bastard attack me already! He hasn't even re-drawn his sword yet!_ "Stop moving around old man! Fight my like a real man!"

Inzo could see the other samurai out of the corner of his eye, three more had joined after the other three had showed up. There were now eight samurai against four mid-ranked ninja, a two to one advantage, yet neither had an advantage over the other. They were evenly matched, Inzo did not see this ending well.

* * *

Hinata had transformed faster than Naruto, due to her demonic fusion being nearly complete, and therefore she was more in sync with her new chakra. She battled four of the nameless samurai at once, her Byakugan easily seeing the attacks aimed at her back and sides, but Okinara was right, no matter how hard she tried, her Jyuuken abilities merely slid of the samurai like water. Her Shichubi side was becoming very irked. 

One of the samurai behind her tried stabbing her in the back, she smiled inwardly, they hadn't noticed the emergence of two of her tails. She grabbed the samurai around the ankles and hurled him through the air and through one of the nearby buildings. She could still use her physical attacks apparently. He didn't get up again. She had gotten rid of one of them, but now the other three were now aware of her new… 'appendages'. One samurai leapt backwards and gave a great shout "**Kiai!**" His companions leapt away from her as the screaming samurai swung his sword through the air with a sideways slashing motion. Hinata saw nothing happen then the ground erupted in front of the samurai in a wave of exploding rock that raced towards her.

After the haze had cleared, it could be seen that Hinata had instinctively released two more of her tails, increasing her chakra output to unbelievable heights. Hinata let out an immense roar sounding very much like an enraged lion. The samurai may be able to constantly enhance themselves with their continuous chakra output, but that didn't do shit if you fought someone who could put out way more chakra than you did. Though she would run out eventually, it wouldn't matter when they were all knocked out. Now she had to figure out how to get her Byakugan to see their strange chakra, it was nearly invisible to her.

Another epiphany hit her the second time that day. She was doing good with figuring things out today. She remembered Okinara speaking of their chakra as if it were wind or water, and though wind was invisible and water was see through, when they moved they still moved things that were in the way, such as leaves and sand. Hinata smiled, she didn't focus on the chakra emitting from the samurai, because she couldn't, but instead focused on the energy output from every other thing in the vicinity. Widening her Byakugan vision to such an extent caused her world to be filled with swirling colors of spiritual energy floating through the air as it was emitted from living things. And of course her Shichubi chakra enhanced her Byakugan to amazing heights, she could _see_ the chakra of other things swirl around the invisible chakra of the samurai. The samurai chakra was blank, and without color to her Byakugan, but it was easy to see as it created an outline against the background of colors Hinata could see. She silently congratulated herself on her discovery, she'd have told Neji to help him, but his Byakugan was nothing compared to hers, the amount of chakra she was seeing would overload Neji's senses, probably killing him. Hinata roared again and flung herself at the three remaining samurai.

* * *

Lee was having trouble with the two samurai he was fighting. Their chakra was invisible to him, the only reason he could barely sense it at all was because he was a taijutsu specialist and so his chakra resembled theirs more than the other ninja. But they were just as fast as he was, and he was still injured. His hips and legs were in pain, and his right arm didn't work properly. This was not good, if he released more than the initial celestial gate, he'd end up moving too fast for his body and reinjuring himself, maybe even killing himself. Of course he couldn't allow that, not after all the hard work Sakura had put in to keep him alive. Oh, another problem, the samurai knew he was handicapped. _This is not looking good_. 

Lee was finding himself doing more dodging than attacking, they were so fast! He was really only dodging out of pure reflex, if it wasn't for his first gate being opened he'd of been dead already. Lee would've loved to go full power on these guys, like he had on the jigokinu, he was that angry at these samurai, but he knew better. He felt pain spike through his back as one of the samurai sliced him with the barest tip of the sword all the way from his right shoulder to his hip on the left side. Lee had tried dodging as fast as he could, but the samurai were slowly increasing their chakra out put. Though he couldn't feel it, he could tell, for even though he hadn't slowed down, they were getting faster.

Lee frowned, making the decision. He knew Sakura was going to beat him to a bloody pulp after he was done healing for doing this, but he had to. Lee opened the second and third celestial gates, causing an explosion in his chakra levels. A whirlwind spun around Lee as the pure chakra exploded from his body. His eyes turned a feral white as he gritted his teeth and his hair stood on end while his skin darkened to red then a deep purplish color as all the blood rushed through his body. He no longer felt the pain in his legs and he could move his arm normally again, but best of all the samurai were moving like normal humans to him. He could easily follow their movements now.

Though they were shocked at the massive amounts of energy emitting from their opponent, they were quick to recover and attack. One samurai swung his sword, shouting "**Kiai!**" The ground exploded in a line that shot towards Lee like a bullet. Lee screamed, tensing his muscles and forcing the max amount of chakra out of his body that he could with three gates open, just as the samurai's explosion reached him. Lee could feel the massive amounts of chakra released from the samurai press up against his own, but that's the only way he could feel it, as it came in contact with him. For a moment it seemed the chakra would break through and kill him, but just it reached the breaking point it dispersed. Lee decided not to try and show off his strength again, it was easier to dodge those strange blasts the samurai could cause.

The two samurai he was fighting stood in awe at what just happened, no one had ever been able to take a stroke of their Iaido and survive. Lee prided himself in at least intimidating them, though it didn't last, both samurai yelled and charged, their katanas raised. One of the samurai suddenly found a chakra charged fist slamming into his face out of nowhere and sending him rolling and cart wheeling along the ground like a rag doll for nearly a hundred feet. Blood oozed from ears after he stopped against a wall, and he didn't get up again. Lee turned to the other samurai, "If you don't retreat now I will be forced to kill you as well."

* * *

Neji was having a harder time than both Hinata and Lee combined. Though his Byakugan was one of the best, it could not hope to compare against someone with the power of the Byakugan's creator, like Hinata, and though he had gotten much better with his taijutsu, he couldn't open his celestial gates like Lee. Oh, and he was fighting the strongest samurai of the clan, while Lee and Hinata fought low-level samurai warriors. Neji was not feeling good about his chances now, and it probably had to do with the multiple bruises and cuts all over his body he had gotten from fighting Okinara for the past five minutes. Neji was exhausted, his stamina drained from the injuries he bore and the amount of blood he had lost, while Okinara looked like he could fight all day. Neji realized that he _could_ fight all day, his chakra was constantly regenerating. 

Neji grimaced and stood up, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. He was a small child compared to this monster. But he would not give up, he was going to protect those precious to him not matter what, even if he died. Okinara shot another Iaido blast at Neji with a mere flick of his sword, Neji barely blocked it with a Divine Spin, his spinning chakra causing Okinara's to flow around him like water. They had been doing this the entire time, Okinara sending wave after wave of chakra at Neji, not really trying, and Neji would dodge or block, that's when Okinara came and attacked Neji from behind with blinding speed, putting several wounds on Neji in a blink of an eye. Neji could see him with his Byakugan, but he was not fast enough to react. Okinara would then disappear again and repeat the process. He wasn't trying to hit Neji's vitals, he was just eroding Neji's stamina until there was almost none left. Neji was powerless to stop it, he wasn't strong enough in the first place to stop it, and now he was weaker than a newbie genin.

Okinara sighed, "I thought you said you were going to be the one to kill me Neji. I suppose you are really just a weakling. I tire of this game, I am going to kill you now." Okinara lifted his sword over his head, Neji's eyes widened, Okinara had been merely flicking his sword with twists of his wrist to send wave after wave of explosive chakra towards Neji. Now he was going to do a full swing, Neji had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to block this one.

Okinara swung downwards, the entire area around him exploding outwards in waves of rolling earth. Neji could only close his eyes as the oncoming explosion raced towards him.

Neji opened his eyes after a moment to see two figures in front of him, a bright light illuminated their outlines so that he couldn't see their features properly. For a moment he thought he was in heaven and looking at two angels, until one turned around and slapped him in the face. "What the hell do you think you're doing just standing there! If you had let that blast hit you I'd of killed you!"

Neji smiled at Tenten's voice, they had both arrived just as Okinara struck his death blow. They had jumped in front of Neji, both blocking Okinara's attack with a combined chakra shield. That was the bright light Neji had seen illuminating their outlines. Tenten put Neji's arm over her shoulder and carried him to a tree, "You stay here, Sakura and I will handle the geezer, we don't know what's going on, but I can tell when we're not welcome anymore."

Neji reached out and cupped her face, "…don't die…" were the only words he could get out before he passed out from exhaustion.

Tenten and Sakura turned to Okinara. If only looks could kill, Okinara would be doomed. They were both cautious though, they didn't know why, but they knew that Okinara had betrayed them, and if Neji had been defeated by a man who looked like he was hardly sweating, then he was strong indeed. Sakura knew better than to think that just because it was two on one that there was an advantage, the old scarred man could more than likely take them in a fight. Sakura whispered to Tenten, keeping her voice low, "All we can do is stall him Tenten. We need to wait for either Hinata or Naruto, their the only ones with a chance of beating this guy."

Tenten nodded wordlessly, a murderous gleam in her eyes. Though she'd love to attack Okinara head on in a blind rage for hurting her Neji, she knew Sakura was right. She reached into her various pockets for the remaining shuriken and kunai she still had in her possession, the rest being used during the fight with the jigokinu.

* * *

Lee stared down the last of his samurai that he was facing. "I suggest that you surrender, I do not wish to harm you in any way, much less kill you." 

The samurai however had other plans in mind, "I don't think so ninja. The man you just killed was a low ranking warrior. _I_ on the other hand am of the same level as Inzo-sensei, I am what you would call an Elite." The samurai smirked, "Its funny, I know you can't sense my chakra because its totally different than anything you've ever seen. But I can sense yours easily, do you want to know why?" Lee glared, pure white eyes staring menacingly at the samurai. "Its because you're releasing so much, normally I wouldn't be able to sense yours without some difficulty, altering my senses to pick up different wavelengths of chakra, anyone can do it, its just troublesome to do so. But I can sense the massive amounts of chakra coming from you, its like feeling wind. Air is invisible at first and your unable to sense it at all, until it starts moving enough for you to feel it through your hair and on your skin."

Lee understood now, that's why he could always sense the Iaido blasts right before they hit him, though the others couldn't feel it unless they got hit by it, Lee thanked the fact that he was a taijutsu master. His taijutsu specialization forced him to alter his chakra for purely physical purposes, apparently it was the beginning stages of what the samurai did. Lee was shaken out of his thoughts as the samurai started to laugh.

"Now you will feel my chakra! I know what you did, I recognize the ability to open the celestial gates, for I too can do it!" Lee stared in shock as the samurai screamed and huge volumes of chakra slammed into him. He could feel that the samurai had released the fourth gate, one higher than him, Lee had always known that practitioners of the gate opening art could sense each other perfectly when they activated their abilities. He had just never expected to fight someone who could use it like him and Gai-sensei.

Lee found himself flying upwards and the wind driven out of his lungs. The samurai had come out of nowhere and uppercut him in the stomach, Lee found himself flying downwards as the samurai painfully slammed him in the back towards the earth. Lee knew what was happening, the samurai was using the same tactics that he himself used, moving so fast so as to attack from all angles, never stopping, so your opponent couldn't find a way to defeat you, until of course your opponent themselves were defeated. Lee grinned to himself, of course he wasn't a normal opponent, _Lets see how far he's willing to go._

Lee activated the fourth gate, twisting in midair, dodging the samurai's next attack. Lee landed on his feet, even as the dirt beneath him began to burn and disintegrate from the amount of power he was giving off.

The samurai glared, the ninja had just gotten as fast as him. _He's released the fourth gate as well. Too bad I'm older, there's no way a kid like him could open as many gates as me._ The samurai's expression became deadly serious, "Enough fooling around, I'm going to kill you quickly so as not to damage myself needlessly." The samurai instantly released to his maximum of six opened gates. He felt like a god, there was no way an insect child like the leotard-clad ninja in front of him could hope to stand up against the oncoming storm that was him. He charged, everything slowed down, the boy stood, his gaze still focused on where he had been, he was going to hit him in the head as hard as he could and make it quick, the boy after all deserved a quick death, he had beaten a samurai after all.

The samurai's fist hit nothing but air, _What the…!_ That's when he felt the telltale chakra of someone who had released their seventh gate wash over him, a split second before a foot slammed into his back, snapping his back bone in two. The samurai felt the world go black, _Dammnit, guess I'm the one who deserved to die, should've given up when he told me too…_

Lee slammed the gates shut, he had nearly died right then, if it wasn't for the fact that he was already opening his other gates when the samurai charged he'd be, well… dead, and Sakura would kill him for that. He'd of laughed at that joke except all the pain he had been feeling came rushing back anew and three times worse. He had reinjured his hips, his left leg, and his back. His right arm hung at his side, the pain at its worse there, a throbbing that felt like a red hot poker being shoved around in his muscle. He saw that it was completely unmoving, it was total dead weight actually. Lee tore off the cloth to stare in horror as his arm slowly began to turn purple, and get darker and darker. Lee realized in panic that his arm was dieing just before the pain overtook him and he sank into warm darkness.

* * *

Hinata was trying her hardest from letting her rage overtake her. She hated hurting others, and she really didn't want to kill anyone, especially humans, but that was proving hard to do. For the first samurai she hurled was back, though limping a little and the other three were being extremely cautious of her four tails as they whipped back and forth. She snarled at them, baring her fangs, trying to scare them some. But it wasn't working, these samurai may be treacherous, but she had to give it to them, they had balls of iron. She wished she could find a way past their strange chakra, they'd of all been subdued before this fight had even begun. But she couldn't think about that now, she was too busy dodging attacks, and Iaido blasts. Her Byakugan made it almost too easy, but even then she was having a hard time finding an opening to attack. 

Hinata could tell these were mid-level samurai, probably chuunin level in ninja terms, though she didn't know what samurai would call them. She hadn't taken any hits, and she could probably survive several of them easily since she was more than halfway to her maximum, but she wasn't risking it. The samurai to her rear left shifted a foot wrong, applying to much weight and unbalancing him, her advanced Byakugan saw all of this easily. Two of her tails shot out towards the samurai, one distracting him and his sword as the other grabbed his sword arm. She swung him up over her head and into one of the other samurai just as the other two jumped towards her. They shouldn't have jumped, her other two tails slammed into the attacking samurai and sent them flying.

The samurai she had pinned used his other hand to draw out his shorter wakizashi, and before she could react, he stabbed her through the leg. She howled in pain, opening herself up for the other samurai near her to get up and hit her with an Iaido blast, her tails partly blocked it but it still slammed into her, sending her reeling. Just as her head was clearing the samurai shoved his katana through her stomach and rip it out, causing her blood to spray all over him. Even as she felt the wound slowly begin to rapidly heal, she drifted into unconsciousness. The last thing she heard was her Shichubi consciousness bitching at her for not attacking to kill, it had made her vulnerable and open to enemy attack. Hinata promised herself not to let Naruto down in battle again, if she survived through this that is.

* * *

Naruto had grown six of his tails already, forcing Inzo to draw his sword after he had only sprouted two tails. The old man was on the ropes, his Iaido blasts and lightning fast attacks were being easily blocked by Naruto, but even so, Naruto was not fooled. Samurai fought much like chess, they were patient, simply biding their time, Naruto knew that if he didn't start landing some hits on Inzo, it would be him on the ropes as his chakra continued to deplete. Inzo would not run out of chakra, ever. 

Naruto had tried a Kage Bunshin, making a hundred shadow clones of himself, but that was easily defeated by Inzo when the old man had used a strange technique that allowed him to attack multiple targets at once. The man's sword had moved so fast Naruto could not follow it even in his heightened state, it was like Lee releasing his gates, but Inzo had only done it for his arm and only for short bursts. Then Naruto had tried his Rasengan of course, but Okinara was right when he told Neji that true samurai swords were different from normal katana. Inzo didn't even have to use his chakra to block the level three Rasengan. Naruto had a feeling those swords were indestructible. At least he could sense Inzo's chakra now. By using the age old knowledge stored in his subconscious as Kyuubi joined souls with him, Naruto was able to alter his senses to pick up on the samurai's chakra 'frequency'.

But even so, the other geezer had been right when he said that ninjutsus would not work on the samurai, well they did, but because of their strange chakra they were resistant to the attacks. Naruto was very frustrated now, he had only scratched Inzo a couple of times, and his Rasengans had barely fazed the old fart. Not to mention the loser was just as fast as that weirdo Gai, maybe faster.

Just as Naruto was about to release another tail and boost his chakra enough to finally hit Inzo, he heard screams behind him, two sounding female and the other sounding female but definitely not human. _Hinata!_ Naruto turned to see Hinata get run through by a samurai sword and Sakura and Tenten both blown back into a tree, where Neji was already sitting unconscious. They didn't get back up, neither did Hinata.

Naruto turned to go to his fallen comrades, all thoughts of battle forgotten, all he could think of was getting to them and saving them. He couldn't let them die! But before he had barely taken a step, he was sent flying from an explosion right beneath his feet.

He had double vision for a moment, but he shook his head to clear his sight. Standing in front him, no more than fifty feet away stood Okinara and Inzo. Naruto snarled and jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing the crimson color of blood. They were the reason his friends were hurt, they had betrayed them! All manner of human thoughts escaped him as the remaining four tails grew from his body, _They must die! I must have Blood!_ An earth-shaking roar escaped his fanged lips, just as a mixture of blue and red chakra exploded from his body.

Okinara and Inzo could _see_ his chakra now, not just sense it. There was so much of it that it was impossible not to see it. Okinara had never met anything that could rival his own power, and now here stood the ultimate challenge, a boy infused with one of the great demon lords. Okinara had never lost a fight during his sixty-six years on this earth, he wasn't going to lose one now. Sadly he had no idea that Naruto was only able to reach only about a quarter of his potential maximum.

Blood red eyes stared into pure white ones, death glaring at death. Naruto subconsciously activated his Zenseigan, purely doing it on reflex rather than thought. There were no seals that he could see, but just because he couldn't see any didn't mean he couldn't make them. He wasn't thinking tactically at the moment, he was hardly thinking at all, the fact that all his friends were down for the count had whipped him into an uncontrollable blood frenzy.

Naruto crouched, tensing muscles that felt like liquid steel as he prepared to leap forward and tear apart the two perpetrators in front of him. He sprang forward, all the energy he had been gathering shooting out from the soles of his feet, propelling him forward at blinding speeds.

Before he had even moved a foot he was blown backwards by another Iaido blast. Naruto flipped, landing on his feet and charged again, to only be hit by another blast of destructive chakra. It hardly fazed him. Naruto took another step forward, and then another, each step he had to pause and glue himself to the ground with chakra as a wave of samurai chakra rolled over him. He had only one goal in mind and that was to kill, and the best way he could think of in his blood lust was a straight forward attack, he didn't bother dodging the Iaido blasts, he took each hit and moved forward steadily, like an unstoppable juggernaut.

Okinara was beginning to panic, at first he was sure the demon boy would fall after a few Haretsu-tous, but he just kept coming. First he was more than fifty feet away, then forty, then thirty, shaking off each attack as a dog would shake off annoying fleas. Now he was twenty feet away and still coming. Okinara let Inzo continue attacking with Haretsu-tous, while he began to focus his chakra into his sword.

Naruto barely saw it coming, he was a mere fifteen feet away when Okinara swung his sword, releasing a blast of bluish chakra the sliced through the air like a scythe. Naruto jumped, barely clearing the blast. He landed behind it and couldn't breathe. Faintly, Naruto's subconscious realized that there was no air, he heard distant _thunk_ behind him. He turned to see the crescent shaped blast slice neatly through a tree and several buildings, seeming to pass right through them. After a moment the buildings and the tree slid sideways and fell, cut perfectly in half. That could've been him, he knew why the air had suddenly disappeared, the blast was so sharp it had cut the very air, leaving behind a vacuum. It only took a moment for the air to replace itself, but Naruto was already on the ground, kneeling, his hand to his throat, sucking in as much as air as he could.

He barely dodged the next one, jumping up and over it out of mere reflex. He had pushed off too hard this time, jumping twenty feet in the air. _Too much hang time!_ Three of Naruto's tails whipped out like red lightning, slamming into the ground and pushing him sideways, just as another of those cutting blasts zoomed by, a mere two inches from his face. Naruto landed nimbly on his feet. It came as a slow realization that Okinara was no longer trying to subdue him, in his panic he was trying to kill him.

And Okinara was panicking. He had never fought something so powerful, and with so much endurance! If he didn't know any better, he would've thought that the jinchuuriki had discovered the ability of chakra regeneration, or Regen for short. Inzo appeared to be calm, but Okinara could tell he was worried as well, the boys speed and durability had increased many times over when he sprouted four more of those tails.

Naruto grabbed a nearby tree with two of his tails and hurled it at Okinara with the force of a speeding freight train. Inzo stepped forward and calmly performed a Kirigai-tou, the scythe like blast of chakra neatly cutting the tree in two, and both ends harmlessly sailing past. Naruto had jumped forward after throwing the tree, he used his Zenseigan to cause a few elemental bursts of fire to stop them from attacking him in midair, and then landed in between the two samurai, bringing his chakra claws to bear.

With his claws, nine tails and his occasional elemental burst with his Zenseigan, Naruto was easily dominating the fight as he dodged, parried and attacked using his tails and claws in perfect unison. It would only be matter of time before one them showed an opening and he could finish them off.

Sadly, they were not the only samurai, there were the two who were still conscious that had been fighting Hinata, and then tens more came running from various corners of the compound. Naruto found himself surrounded by Iaido wielding samurai. Okinara and Inzo stepped back behind the encircling samurai, Okinara with a wide grin plastered on his face.

Naruto was able to let loose a terrifying roar and leap forward before he was struck from all directions by over fifty of those ground ripping blasts. He felt himself lose consciousness as his chakra tails left and his chakra began to subconsciously heal his wounds, he had only one thought before he left the waing world. _Let them be alright… let them be alive…

* * *

_

Okinara stepped forward to gaze upon his fallen foe. He had never known such a beast could exist in a mere eighteen year old boy. He had never known such fear. In one on one combat, he had a definite chance of losing unless he released at least three of his gates, but releasing the gates was always dangerous to the body, Regen only affected chakra, not physical healing. Luckily, he was not the only samurai in the complex, Inzo was with him and he had sent out a pulse of chakra to rally the others when he realized the Uzumaki would not be so easily subdued. For a moment he thought he'd have to kill the boy, especially after he seemed to regain control of his blood rage and began to fight with as much more skill than expected.

Inzo was holding his sword arm gingerly, he had to partially release two of his gates in order to fight of the hundred or so shadow clones that Naruto had sent after him. Not to mention that whirlwind of chakra the boy kept slamming into his sword was arm-numbing. Okinara turned to Inzo, "You fought well sensei. Go to the medics, they'll take care of your arm." Inzo nodded wordlessly and left quickly, he may have taught Okinara all he knew, but he was still his lord, he had to obey him.

Okinara turned back to the bodies of the children ninja he had fought, they had all been gathered together and tied up. He sneered, his victory over the northern samurai was now secured. Okinara shouted at the other samurai standing around him, "Throw them in the chakra cell!" He looked at the two jinchuuriki, laying next to each other, they were so human looking now, "Throw all of them into the cell. I don't want any of them to escape. We can sell the others as slaves to the highest bidders." Okinara turned to head back to his chambers, yelling over his shoulder, "And make sure you put suppressor collars on _all_ of them. Make sure the jinchuuriki have their collars set on high dammnit!"

Okinara laughed to himself. As the samurai did his tasks for him. Little did they know what he had in store for his own people, even Inzo-sensei. _They, coupled with all the northern samurai, will make the perfect sacrifice for my ascent into godhood!_ Okinara laughed maniacally, startling some of the younger samurai, the older ones were too used to Okinara's laughter to even notice it.

* * *

Itachi watched impassively from atop the very hill that his prey had stood on when they spied the village of Bushi for the very first time. With his Sahringan, he could see the entire battle from his position high up on the hilltop. "Okinara has completed his job well. The Uzumaki and Hyuuga are still alive, as are all of their friends." 

Kisame stood up from his sitting position, he had been wondering what Itachi had been doing staring at the village for the past half hour. "Great! So we can finally go down and get the little bastards! Easy as pie." Kisame grinned, "And with that weird chakra technology Okinara's been developing, it should be a piece of cake to bring those two back to base."

Itachi said nothing for a long moment, letting the silence settle firmly between them.

"Lets see what happens."

Kisame's head shot around to look at Itachi, "What! Itachi, we have them in our grasp! We should go kill Okinara and collect them now!"

Itachi, turned around, heading for the road that lead into Bushi, "We will meet Okinara tonight. But as you remember, Uzumaki will more than likely lead us to more jinchuuriki."

Kisame couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You're just going to let them go! Why the hell did you tell Okinara to capture them for you then?"

Itachi paused his footsteps, "To see if they were strong enough. And yes, if they are strong enough to escape I will let them go. It will be interesting to see how strong the boy and his mate will become."

There was no emotion in Itachi's voice, so Kisame had no idea if he really found it interesting. Kisame shut his mouth though, Itachi had made a decision, and as the third strongest of the Akutsuki, you did not argue with Itachi. Kisame groaned softly to himself, he had a feeling that this was just going to be another attempt of Itachi's to test himself against something that looked like a worthy opponent. But even so, Kisame knew he would follow, if he didn't, Itachi would kill him in a heartbeat.

Kisame stared at Itachi's back, before following. Wondering, not for the first time, what was really going on in the missing-nin's mind.

Or if he even had one.

* * *

Sweet! I rule at this cliffhanger thing, I don't know how I do it, I think I'm just a natural or something. Cause no matter what I do, there's always a cliffhanger at the end of most of the chapters. Let me guess, you hate Okinara's guts, at least I hope so, its what I meant to do. 

Anyway, before you decide to dismember me, just give me one last request... "please... PLEASE! Give me your reviews, so that we may continue this beautiful symbiosis that we have established!"

Oh, and **Chapter Preview!** Naruto and the others have to figure out how the hell they're going to get out of this one. What will Itachi do? What of Okinara and Inzo? Will our heroes be given to Itachi, or will they escape on their own? OR, will they recieve help from an unlikely source. Find out next time on... I wanted to say Batman, but that was already taken. Oh well.


	22. A Samurai's Way

Okay, sorry that took so long, My father's parents had some down from Minnesota to visit for the week. Grrr... I am not going into why I dislike them, its good enough for you to know that I don't like them and they don't like the fact that I want to be a japanese artist and writer for a living.

Anyway, got some concerns to address. Apparently some of you still find it hard to believe that Lee is still alive, since he opened the eighth gate. Apparently I have to make it clear... The Jigokinu's poison, a poison powerful enough to destroy someone's very soul, was what really saved Lee's life when the effects were miraculously reversed. Sakura just really used the reversed poison to heal Lee, not really knowing it. Sorry if that was confusing at all. And, even though he used his gates again (up to the seventh) that doesn't mean he should die again though he is injured, if you read the manga, Gai opens the sixth gate to fight Kisame, and kick the shit out of him. He was fine afterwards due to the fact that he only performed a three or four moves. Same with Lee, he only moved enough to hit each the of the samurai, he only had the gates above number one open long enough to beat them. And even then he _is_ suffering from it. You'll see. AND YES, Naruto, when he goes demonic, is no where near as strong when he used to let out Kyuubi before the fusion. This will be explained in this chapter.

Oh, and all of you afraid that Naruto will become too powerful and that Okinara is too strong already, are going to LOVE this chapter.

Okay, **ENJOY!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 22: A Samurai's Way**

"How long has it been?" The voice was worried, almost panicky.

"Nearly six hours." This voice was flat and nearly emotionless, though it too had a worried edge to it.

"Is he going to be okay? Why hasn't he woken up yet?" This voice had the most worry in it, and it seemed the most tender.

Naruto grunted, frowning, he had been hearing voices as if from far away, and now he could hear them rather clearly. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking in the darkness that surrounded him. He groaned, he hurt all over, and his neck was really sore, as if he had been sleeping on something. He could make out the blurry shapes of people sitting around him.

"Naruto! Thank the heavens, you're awake!"

Naruto felt something fall on top of him and curl its arms around him. He recognized the smell and the voice. "Hinata-chan?" It had been her voice that had been so tender and worried. "Wha… where the hell are we? And what the hell happened?" His eyes were rapidly adjusting to the dark conditions, so he wasn't surprised when a nearly silent Neji spoke right next to him.

"We were beaten, brother, and badly at that. We were outnumbered and they captured us, and put us in here." He gestured around him, his hand sweeping the circular chamber. "It's a cylinder, about ten feet high and thirty feet across. There's a door somewhere, but its locked."

Naruto groaned, "I can see that its round idiot, and the door is over there. Why isn't there any light coming through that small window?"

Everyone else was silent, until Tenten spoke up, "I guess you can see as well as Hinata can huh?" At Naruto's confused silence she elaborated, "We can't see anything Naruto, its too dark, only you and Hinata can apparently see anything at all. I'm guessing its night outside"

Naruto smacked himself in the forehead, "Oh yeah, sorry." He had forgotten completely about his and Hinata's newly heightened senses that they were just becoming accustomed to. Naruto sat for a moment, letting everything he could remember about what happened play itself through his head. They had been fighting Okinara, Inzo and a bunch of samurai goonies, then everyone was down, except him. He didn't remember much, except a need to kill something, which he guessed was Okinara and Inzo; and then a large amount of pain, then nothingness.

"Man, we really did get beat. And by a bunch of loser samurai! Jeez, no one back home is going to believe that we met samurai, and they'll probably laugh at us for losing so badly." Naruto chuckled a little at that, he couldn't help but wonder what Sasuke would've said to him losing to two guys, _You're a loser… dobe._ Naruto chuckled grimly at that.

Sakura's voice floated to him through the darkness, he could see her to his right, she was sitting next to Lee, doing something with his arm. "This isn't the time for joking Naruto. We need to find away out of here, or else Itachi will have us."

Naruto frowned, thinking. His hands ran up and down Hinata's back as she silently purred against his chest, the vibrations helping him to calm down and think more clearly.

She was just happy that he was awake and well now. She snuggled up against him, happy for the moment to not do anything, to not worry or even think about getting out, just to feel her love against her. She turned her face up to him, catching his attention, "We've already tried using ninjutsu and the such to get out but…" Hinata grabbed his hand and brought it to her neck.

Naruto's eyes widened, there was a large bulky collar encircling her neck, he felt no latch or buttons or even a hinge, he had no idea how to get it off. That's when Naruto remembered the soreness of his neck. He reached up slowly and sure enough he too had an identical collar on, he looked around at the others, noticing the thick collars around their necks as well. "What the hell are these?"

Tenten shrugged, "We don't know really. But we do know that whenever we try to use chakra, its blocked. Neji tried pushing past the 'barrier' but the collar electrocuted him… we didn't try again." Tenten paused, her voice became strained, and on the verge of tears "Sakura, Hinata and I didn't know if he was going to wake up."

Neji stood up and walked over to where he heard Tenten as she sat near Sakura, picking her up and sitting with her on his lap. He didn't say anything, because he didn't have too, he just held her gently, rubbing her arms and back, and kissing her tears from her face.

Naruto remembered hearing Neji's voice. They had been in there for nearly six hours, with no idea how to get out. Their spirits were crushed and their morale low, Naruto was starting to feel a little defeated himself. He looked over to were Sakura sat near Lee, "Sakura? Is Lee awake?" Sakura shook her head, muttering a no, her voice was strained like Tenten's. "Sakura. W-what's wrong with him?"

Naruto was met by dead silence, no one opened their mouth to tell him, and it remained like that for nearly five minutes. Sakura forced herself to speak, "He… He released his gates again." She grimaced at Naruto's sharp intake of breath. "He didn't stay like that too long, but almost all of his muscles are bruised, his legs are broken again, and… and…" Naruto waited, his heart beating, he didn't like how Sakura was having trouble telling him the last. "H-his right arm… its… its dead from the elbow down. And its spreading upwards, if I don't amputate it soon, it'll reach his chest and right lung and eventually his heart. He'll die in another twelve hours or so."

Naruto could barely believe it. Now, even if they did somehow escape, Lee was going to lose his right arm. And if they didn't, he was going to die. Naruto felt defeat overwhelm him, and for a moment it felt like he would drown in it. But Naruto was no longer fully human anymore, and demons never liked to admit defeat. He felt the warmth of anger overtake him, driving away the defeat, and sharpening his senses and mind. He had to do something.

He was going to do something.

* * *

Itachi sat at the bar, staring into space. He hadn't touched his sake. 

"You want that Itachi?" Kisame pointed at his bottle of alcohol.

Itachi nearly flinched at the mention of his name in a public place, but shook his head, giving Kisame the go ahead to take it. It didn't matter if they said each other's names, this village was so small that hardly anyone knew of the missing-nins known as Itachi and Kisame. The samurai had known though. Samurai were of the noble class and of course the ones living in this village stayed in touch with the news of the outside world.

They had attacked him and Kisame when they first came to their mansion, using their strange sword techniques. Kisame had shown a few of his own sword techniques, killing three of them before Hyata Okinara came out himself.

Itachi could feel the old samurai's power, his advanced Sharingan easily sensing the samurai's unique brand of chakra. He was easily Kage level, probably a little higher, closer to the traitor Orochimaru's power level. Though he had no idea what Orochimaru's power was right now, not having seen him in over thirteen years.

Itachi showed no fear in the face of the great samurai lord, causing him to pause before attacking them. Itachi had calmly explained that his companion by himself could defeat Okinara, probably using up a good amount of his chakra stores, but would have enough left over to decimate several more of his samurai. Itachi had bluntly stated that he was stronger than his companion.

He was far above Kage level opponents, he had been at Kage level and higher ever since he slaughtered his family and gained full control of the Mangekyou Sharingan. Though some Kage's were more powerful than others, such as the female Hokage of Konoha, she would be a challenge if they ever fought in battle.

The dead seriousness in Itachi's voice and his crimson eyes, was enough for old man Hyata to realize he was speaking the truth. After that Okinara had bravely demanded what their business was at his mansion. That's when they had sat down to discuss their deal, Itachi, used to not feeling anything at all, had easily lied to Okinara of how much money he would pay him if he captured Naruto and Hinata alive. Not saying he couldn't easily pay the amount, with full access to the Uchiha fortune, though it would be traced, and his own private fortune he had been gathering while with the Akutsuki.

Okinara had asked why Itachi didn't capture the demon vessels himself, if he was so powerful. Itachi had merely stated that he was not the most powerful, "There is always someone who is stronger and must be brought down." The comment had made Okinara grin, Itachi already knew what the Hyata lord was planning on doing with the promised money. He wanted to become a god and therefore the strongest of them all.

Okinara the dimwitted fool that he was, had figured the missing-nins just preferred not to risk any mishaps to their well-being while fighting the jinchuuriki. Itachi could only wonder how the old man truly believed something as foolish as that. He had no fear of the jinchuuriki, matter of fact he wished to fight Naruto someday, but like his deceased younger brother, Itachi refused to fight someone who was weaker than him. Hence the skirmish with the samurai.

Itachi had no doubts that his plan would work, though Kisame was just as dimwitted as Okinara, he would at least be privy to some of Itachi's plan later on.

Itachi had waited for so long to put this plan in motion. He could not afford any missteps now, any would mean disaster. If he planned and thought everything through like he was supposed to, then everything tonight would go perfectly to plan.

And so would everything five years from then.

Itachi stood up from his seat. "Its time to go Kisame, we have… business to attend to."

Kisame grinned, "'Bout time mate!" Kisame dropped some coins on the bar, shouldered his massive sword and followed Itachi outside and towards the Hyata mansion.

* * *

Okinara stood outside, awoken from a restless nap, marveling at the machine that his grandfather had started and he had finished and perfected as it shone in the pale moonlight. It was his path to becoming the Samurai Juggernaut, the most powerful being to walk the earth. Not even demon lord infested children could defeat him. 

Okinara shivered slightly, the thought of those red eyes on that Uzumaki brat were nearly enough for him to break out in a cold sweat. It was strange how his nightmares of late were invaded by red eyes, one pair with little black comma marks and the other pair slitted like a cat's. He had never felt chakra as he did from those two, or from that little girl either, the one who was a Hyuuga and distantly related to him. Though she was nowhere near as frightening as Itachi or Naruto, she was too kind-hearted and afraid of hurting someone, he doubted she had ever killed a human before.

Itachi though was a different story. Okinara had felt the pure emotionless cold in the missing-nin's voice, and he had seen the darkness in his dead eyes, a darkness even greater then what dwell in Okinara himself. He shivered again, remembering his first meeting with the red eyed Uchiha.

Then there was the boy, and his insane amount of chakra. Okinara knew he had been lucky. Being a samurai, he would've never tired out during the fight with Naruto, and the boy would've eventually been knocked unconscious from chakra depletion. Eventually. The truth was, Okinara had not been expecting so much chakra to be in such a small body, the boy could've fought for _days_. And worse, the longer he fought Naruto, the more he noticed how the boy got gradually faster and faster, not to mention stronger. If Okinara hadn't called for his samurai warriors to help subdue the jinchuuriki, released gate seals or not, he and Inzo would both be dead men.

He glanced over at Inzo, standing next to him, staring at the huge contraption in front of them. His face blank and emotionless, Okinara remembered Inzo always being like that, always calm, never showing worry, panic or any other sort of emotion. He grinned, Inzo was his perfect and most powerful tool, he was actually slightly more powerful than the clan lord, but because of the samurai code, bushido, he would always be loyal to Okinara.

* * *

Hyata Inzo was, like everyone else in Okinara's mansion, Hyata born and raised. His snow white eyes and samurai chakra proved it. He was proud to be a Hyata, to be a Dragon samurai warrior, and to serve under the clan head, the one and only Dragon Lord. But he was feeling something he had never felt in the ninety-one years he had been in this world. 

He had heard lord Hyata's ambition to wipe out the northern samurai when he was only eighteen years old, a dream shared by his father and grandfather. Inzo, when he was assigned as the boy's sensei, tried to teach him the honor of being a samurai, and how the northern samurai were truly their brothers in arms, no matter how much they hated the new Dragon clan. But it would not be.

After Okinara achieved the illustrious title of Dragon Lord, his hate for the reclusive northern tribes spread through the rest of the clan. Soon the belief that the Dragon clan was not only superior to the barbaric northerners, but to all other humans in the world, especially ninjas, also spread to all other like minds. It was because of Inzo's council and Okinara's actual fear of the mysterious samurai of the north and their possible retaliation on him for his actions, that stopped the land from being consumed by a bloody war of ninja versus samurai. The ninja greatly outnumbered the samurai, but even the weakest samurai were more powerful than low, and even some mid-level, ninja. The war would have been even, and wars where both sides were even were always long, drawn out, and extremely bloody.

Now Okinara, hearing of the juggernaut legend from his father's notes, and continuing the building the repulsive device in front of him now, it sickened him. And then Uchiha Itachi showed his unholy face, and _bribed_ Okinara with money to capture innocent children. Samurai did not accept bribes, it was dishonorable. No matter if two of them were possessed by demons, they were still too young and therefore too innocent in his eyes. And yet, Okinara had accepted the bribe without a second thought.

For the very first time in his long life, Inzo felt shame. Shame towards the very clan he had grown up in and loved.

"Isn't it glorious Inzo? With this wonderful _machine_, I will attain the rank I so rightfully deserve. The rank only meant for the one true ruler of this world… _God_." Okinara said machine and god as if they were his life long lovers.

Inzo merely shifted his eyes, looking at Okinara without turning his head. He kept silent, highly doubting that Okinara would hear anything that he had to say right then. He looked at the machine again, it was a thirty foot wide cylinder, that was ten feet tall, there was a single door that was locked into place with several latches, it had a single round, tinted window. From its walls sprang an innumerable amount of cables and wires, some as thin as a hair, others as thick as a human body. All the cables were hooked up to another cylinder, this one much smaller, only big enough for a single man to stand in. It was grotesque, yet harmless looking to the ignorant, unless one knew what it did, and worse what was inside.

Inzo could only despair at the thought that the young ninjas were inside the contraption, there was no way they could get out.

Okinara turned to head for the smaller cylinder. Servants opened the door for him, as he was about to step inside, he turned to the samurai and servants of the house. The entire clan had been ordered to gather there in order to celebrate Okinara's victory over the vicious jinchuuriki, and of his inevitable victory over the hated northern samurai. "Begin the test!" He stepped inside as the servants closed the door on him, there was no window on this door.

That was it, no speech of oncoming victory to rally his followers, just an order to begin his own road to bloody glory. Inzo felt the shame nearly overcome him. He looked to his fellow samurai, none nearly as old as he, they apparently did not feel his grief over the corruption of their clan, but celebrated it. The younger samurai followed Okinara without question, they could not wait to see their lord rise to godhood.

Okinara stared in disbelief at his surroundings, he had been dazed for the past several hours after fighting Naruto. The boy's determination to protect his friends, even going as far as totally ignoring Inzo to attack Okinara, had stripped away the illusions he had of his clan regaining their honor. The blond ninja had caused a maelstrom to erupt in Inzo's normally calm mind, Inzo did not know what to do now, he was, for once, without an answer to a problem.

A loud whirring sound caught his attention, three turbines on top of the cylinder began to glow as they spun faster and faster. The whirring sound increased in volume, until it was a dull roar and the turbines crawled with neon green electricity. The process he had feared ever since capturing the ninjas had begun. Something in Inzo shifted, he did not know if he had made the decision consciously or subconsciously, but he now knew what he must do.

Inzo slowly drew his katana, a sword that had served him and his ancestors for over three centuries, and strode forward to meet his end.

* * *

"AaaaaAAAAAHHHH!" 

"Naruto! Please… stop!"

He no longer heard their pleas for him to stop. He had gently pushed Hinata away and stood up to stand in the middle of their cylinder prison. They had asked what he was doing, but he had ignored them. There was only one thought on his mind, and that was freeing his friends… his family.

Tenten had been right, his chakra felt like it was blocked by some sort of 'barrier'. And just as she said, when he tried pushing past it, the collar started to electrocute him, becoming more and more painful as he tried to free his chakra.

Unlike Neji, he had a lot more chakra and stamina, not to mention the immense reserves of demonic chakra that he only had a small access to. But that small access was greater than his own insane amounts of chakra, and so when the electrocution got to the point of knocking out a normal human, Naruto stayed conscious and kept pushing. Even after the voltage grew so high that a human would've been killed, he just kept pushing.

And now his friends could see what he was doing. He was crouched in on himself, forcing himself to ignore as much of the pain as possible, the voltage was so high that they could actually see electricity dance along his body. Not to mention that he would scream whenever he faltered on his concentration.

Neji, Tenten and Sakura were having a hard time holding back Hinata as she tried to reach Naruto. She was frantic, the panic almost too much. He had just woken to her relief, and now he was risking his life once again for all of them. "Naruto! Please! You don't have to do this!" but he could not hear her anymore, or anyone else.

Naruto's mind floated in a sea of red warmth, protected from the worst of the pain. He had withdrawn into his demon side, he was trying to see if he could break the collar without having to resort to his demon power, he didn't know what would happen, and being in a contained area could be dangerous for his friends. But as he continued to push harder on the barrier, it seemed more and more as if his human chakra was not going to be enough.

**Use me you dobe.**

Naruto stopped cold, the deep rumbling voice full of insulting disdain caused recongnition to rise up inside of him. Naruto stared at nothing, his chakra 'pushing' ceasing to increase but not stopping its pushing either. _K-K…Kyuubi?_

**No, its your older brother complete with fur and nine-tails. Who the hell do you think it is you retard!**

Naruto couldn't believe it. Tears involuntarily sprung to his eyes before he could wipe them away.

**What the…? Oh no you don't! You so as hell are not crying over me you little brat! You had best stop that or else I'll pummel you into little bitty chibi Narutos!** Kyuubi sent a mental image of him doing just that with an oversized hammer, even for the gigantic fox.

Naruto snickered, even though he was in unbelievable pain. But all the same he was confused as hell, _You said you were no longer going to exist! That after starting the fusion you and I were one! I even started having some dreams that involved me as a fox chasing after a seven tailed cat!_ Naruto paused, remembering the vivid dreams some comical, some horrifying and apparently Kyuubi's memories. _Now tell me what the hell is going on!_ Then Naruto noticed something else that nearly threw him in a panic. _And if you're still alive, then what the fuck are you doing out of your cell?_

Kyuubi chuckled, **Still the same idiot. Well, to tell you the truth I didn't think I was going to be around anymore either, I was floating in darkness for awhile and I thought that's how it was going to be for… well, ever. But then, just now I feel this jolt, as if I had been hit by a lightning bolt. I guess you could say it woke me up, and now I no why! What the hell do you think you're doing you idiot! Your human chakra isn't going to be able to heal you, and it isn't going to be enough to get past this block.** Kyuubi paused, Naruto could feel the mental sigh. **Apparently due to the fact that even though we are fusing, we aren't completely fused. I'm hoping you can guess the rest?**

Naruto grinned through the pain and exertion, _It means our minds aren't completely fused either! You must have been knocked out or something from the shock of starting the fusion so quickly, that's why I haven't heard from you. Though that doesn't explain why you aren't in your cell. I'm not unconscious, and even though I'm not fully aware, I'm not that deep in my psyche where I should be able to speak to you._

Kyuubi snorted, **When the hell did you grow a brain? **He laughed again at the mental grumbling coming from Naruto. **Well to answer your question, I'm not in the cell due to us fusing.Our minds are becoming more of one mind than two separate identities. That's why I can talk to you while you're still awake now. And I have a feeling that even after we've fully fused I'll still be here, kinda like your conscious, or another personality. We'll be the same mind, share the same memories and dreams, but our thoughts will mostly be separate still.**

Naruto nodded, consciously increasing the amount of chakra he was throwing at the barrier, and also increasing the pain. He had to sink deeper into Kyuubi's protective embrace to escape the hurt. He was going to have to do something soon, he could feel his body starting to deteriorate. _Alright then, why hasn't Hinata been having a voice in her head too? If Shichubi suddenly started talking to her then I think she'd tell me._

Kyuubi chuckled, **I like being an all knowing demon.** He chuckled again at Naruto mentally rolling his eyes. **Anyway, the answer to that is simple. Our lover's fusions are going much faster than ours. _Much_ faster. Our's won't finish for another few years, while theirs will probably finish by the next full moon, which I think is in two weeks or so. Shichubi can't talk, because all of her chakra is fusing with Hinata's at a rapid rate, its stressing on the psyche, and Shichubi is probably protecting Hinata's mind from the stress. So basically Shichubi won't be able to talk to Hinata until their fusion is complete. How is she doing anyways?**

Naruto could only grin at the worry in Kyuubi's voice. _Shichubi means a lot to you doesn't she?_

**Just as much as Hinata means to you brat.**

Naruto grinned wickedly. _Then it seems you and I share something in common. We want to protect the same person now. _

**Agreed.**

Naruto tensed, _Then lets get this show on the road…partner._

**Yes… partner.

* * *

**

Inzo noticed something was wrong before he even got halfway to the cell. It was sound proof so he couldn't hear what was going on inside, but the entire machine was vibrating madly.

Inzo looked at the three turbines on top of the cylinder, thinking they might be the cause. But something had stopped them, the flow of chakra that was supposed to be sucked out of those wearing the suppressor collars hadn't even started before the machine died.

For that's what it was for. It Drained the chakra out of those put inside and transplanted the chakra into the one standing inside the smaller cylinder. Okinara had been hoping to gain their chakra and then convert it into samurai chakra. That way once he gained the ancient texts on the Juggernaut, he'd be able to transform, for he'd have more than enough chakra from the two jinchuuriki.

Inzo knew that Okinara would not have stopped there. He would've dragged the machine to the north and drained every samurai there of their chakra, gaining even more power along the way. Okinara wanted to gain as much chakra as possible to make sure the transformation into the Juggernaut wouldn't backfire and end up killing him like so many samurai thought would happen.

Inzo had heard the legends, apparently the theory behind the Juggernaut was that there was a _ninth_ celestial gate, that no one but a samurai would be able to find. For it was from there that the samurai trained to open it a mere fraction and gain their altered chakra and the Regen power. The Juggernaut transformation apparently opened all eight celestial gates at once, and then opened the ninth one all the way, creating the ultimate fighting force. A being that could not be killed by any attack, could not become sick or poisoned, and was stronger than any known ninja or samurai. Inzo feared what would happen if Okinara gained such power.

The door to the small cylinder burst open as Okinara strode out, "What in the seven hells is going on!" He stared at the vibrating generator cell and its Turbines that had stopped moving, "Why have I not gained the power of the jinchuuriki! Why has my machine stopped working! What is going on!" He was to say the least, in a rage.

The other samurai and servants didn't have an answer for him though. Okinara stalked towards the crowd that had stood watching, "Someone give me an explanation now!" Okinara had yet to notice Inzo who he had his back to at the moment as he addressed the rest of the clan.

Inzo considered stopping what he was about to do. But seeing the enraged look on Okinara's face, a look that made him look insane, made up Inzo's mind for him. Inzo turned back to the cell that held the young ninjas. He would not let a madman rule this world, even if he was his lord, even if he was once his most prized student.

Inzo said a quick prayer to Buddha and walked up to the single door, raising his sword over his head.

Okinara turned around in time to see Inzo raising his sword to cut open the door and destroy his precious machine. "Inzo… NO!"

But it was too late, Inzo swung down his sword, cutting through the steel door like butter releasing whatever was building up pressure inside.

Inzo barely jumped back in time as the cell exploded.

* * *

Hinata watched as Naruto's chakra began to seep through the suppressor collar. She could tell he was suffering more than the grimace of pain on his face showed. She wanted to go to him, comfort him and take away his pain, anything to stop the waves of agony that were coming from his body. But she couldn't with the others holding her back, and she couldn't shake them off, she was too weak without access to her chakra. Tears were streaming down her face as she watched the person she admired die before her very eyes. His body slowly shutting down as he tried to gain control of his suppressed chakra. 

Suddenly it got very, very hot. The temperature inside the cell rocketed thirty degrees in less than a second. Hinata blinked her eyes, not believing them, Naruto's chakra had changed from the mixture of bluish red chakra to pure crimson, the color of blood. The others had let go of her, staring in awe and a slight bit of fear as the red chakra slowly came bubbling out of Naruto's body and healed the burn wounds all over his skin.

His back was still to them, but Hinata didn't have to see his face to know it had red eyes and a fanged mouth. An acrid smell suddenly reached her nose, she pinched her nose with her hand on reflex. She didn't know what was happening until Neji pointed at Naruto's feet. The red chakra was burning a hole through the metal.

Naruto felt the pain slowly subside as Kyuubi rapidly healed all of his hurts. He could also feel his mind slowly recede as if he were drowning in a sea of red. _What the! What's going on! I shouldn't be losing control anymore! I thought since we were fusing I wouldn't go all blood thirsty and stuff…well at least not as much._

Naruto could feel Kyuubi mentally shake his massive head, **That's because before your human chakra was naturally holding the demon chakra back, so that even at a full nine-tails you were nowhere near your maximum and you didn't totally lose your mind like when you used to allow me to come out and… _play_.**

Naruto shook his head, there was a definite sadistic note when Kyuubi said the word 'play'. Just because he and Kyuubi had finally met in the middle about something, still didn't change most of his demonic… tendencies. _I'm trusting you on this Kyuubi. Don't let me down._

Kyuubi laughed, **Wouldn't even dream of it brat. Only three tails for now though, going any higher would be dangerous to you and everything around us, including Hinata.** Kyuubi's voice turned unnaturally soft when he said Hinata's name, to him, Shichubi and Hinata were now the same thing.

Naruto felt Kyuubi's chakra flow through him, filling him until he felt like bursting. Slowly three tails bubbled from the red chakra surrounding his body as Naruto's mind numbed to the killer instinct of the demon inside of him. He had only two thoughts in mind, _Kill… enemies. Protect…family._ Naruto grinned maliciously, this was amazing! He was now more powerful than he had been with nine-tails and without Kyuubi's help. He felt unstoppable, he felt that there was nothing in this world that could defeat him! He was the Kyuubi! The greatest of the Demon lords! _Let's show Okinara-teme what a **real** juggernaut looks like._

The collar around Naruto's neck easily burst from the gargantuan amount of chakra that suddenly surged through it.

Sakura felt cold fear as the killer instinct from Naruto washed over her being. Piercing deeply into her soul and stopping her heart cold. She had never felt such terror, and she had never witnessed a creature that could emit pure _glee_ at the thought of killing. This was nothing like when she had felt him fight Sasuke-kun, or when she saw him fighting Inzo, this was far more powerful and _terrible_. It was more like when he fought Haku on the unfinished Great Naruto Bridge, nearly four years ago. She could see the others around her reacting in the same way, all except Hinata who could only look at Naruto with worried eyes.

Suddenly the three tails that were emerging from Naruto whipped out towards them. Sakura and the others tried to get away, the thought of the chakra melting the steel floor of the cell still very fresh in their minds. But the tails were too fast, Sakura closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the burning pain as Naruto's chakra reduced her to ash.

It never came. Instead they all felt warmth, a warmth that protected them from the searing heat that was beginning to turn the walls of the cell a dull red as the temperature continued to rise steadily. Sakura opened her eyes to see Naruto's 'tail' wrapped protectively around her and Lee, she could see through it enough to tell the other two tails were wrapped around Tenten and Neji and the third around Hinata. It wasn't burning her skin, matter of fact Sakura got the distinct impression that she was wrapped in warm fur and that something was softly purring against her. The terror she had felt earlier all but vanished as she couldn't help but feel perfectly safe in Naruto's grasp. _He'll protect us, he'll let nothing harm us._ She had to shake her head and snap open her eyes, _I-I almost fell asleep!_ It was hard to worry about anything, or stay awake for that matter, when she felt perfectly safe and content wrapped in Naruto's and Kyuubi's chakra.

Now that his friends were safe from the deadly side effects his chakra could cause, Naruto focused on the other half of his thoughts. _Kill enemies! Kill them all!_ Naruto gathered his chakra into his stomach, forcing as much as possible into a space the size of a pinhead. He was going to do his Hyuuga brother's favorite move, the Heavenly Divine spin. Except this was going to be far more explosive.

* * *

Okinara slowly stood up, coughing up dust and smoke in an attempt to clear his lungs. He could hear the rest of his clan slowly awake and stand up. Some were coughing like him, most were moaning in pain. Okinara reached up and felt his forehead, feeling moisture he pulled his hand away to see it covered in blood. A rock from the explosion must of shot out and hit him in the head. 

_The Explosion!_ Okinara whipped his head around, bringing on a bout of dizziness as he searched for Inzo. _That bastard traitor! I should've known that he would turn on me someday, he and his lofty 'morals'. I will kill him personally! _Okinara drew his sword, stumbling slightly, waiting for the smoke and dust to clear so he could find his old sensei and slay him.

But it would not be Inzo that he saw next. As the smoke cleared Okinara saw where his chakra generator once stood. "My machine! It-its destroyed!" The entire area was clear of any debris that could've of been the remains of his machine, it had all been blown away or vaporized by Naruto's blast of chakra. It hadn't been Inzo's cutting open of the door that caused the explosion, but Naruto's burst of chakra just as Inzo swung his sword, that had destroyed the machine. There was nothing but a shallow crater and scorched ground where the metal cell once stood.

Okinara seethed, it had taken three generations for his family to build that machine! And now it would take three more! The machinery was so complicated that it literally took nearly three lifetimes to complete the construction. Everything had to be precise, one fraction of an inch off on any part and the machinery would fail. But his anger died like a candle flame being snuffed when he saw what stood in the blackened area of the explosion. The jinchuuriki boy had somehow destroyed the suppressor collar, and now three blood read tails of bubbling chakra sprouted from a shroud demonic energy that covered his entire body. Held aloft and wrapped safely in his tails, Okinara could see the other five Konoha leaf-nins.

Okinara slowly began to back up, his body starting to sweat. This wasn't like last time, the boy was more powerful and he had only sprouted three tails! But it wasn't just that, it was the pure malice, the horrible bloodlust that sank deep and chilled his bones. It was far from the evil that he knew, this creature did not want to kill him, it wanted to torture him and bathe in his blood as he breathed his last breath!

He could see that most of his men had survived the generator's destruction, though some had pieces of rock or metal lodged deeply into their bodies. Those ones were either dead or dieing from blood loss. Okinara didn't care though, all he cared about was living. "S-soldiers! Kill that beast!" The samurai hesitated, also feeling the unchecked bloodlust coming from the monster in front of them. Okinara frowned, "Do not dare disobey me! For your lord's honor, I command you to attack! Now!"

The unsuspecting samurai charged, fully believing that they would not lose with their lord commanding them, even against the demon before them.

Behind their backs as they charged towards their deaths, Okinara turned tail and ran for his fortress.

* * *

Naruto gently set down his teammates a good distance behind him, then turned back towards the oncoming samurai. They had their swords drawn and were screaming battle cries as they wildly aimed Haretsu-tous at him. They only made it within thirty feet of him. 

Naruto crouched down and roared, releasing chakra towards his enemy. He didn't bother shaping it with a seal or a jutsu, he didn't have to. The wave of chakra hit the samurai head on. The weakest were reduced to ash within a microsecond, the more powerful were either burned to death or crushed by the chakra if they were strong enough to resist the intense heat. In less than a second, twenty samurai lost their lives. But even so, more came, blinded by their devotion to their lord, they did not heed the fact that they to would do nothing but die.

Naruto slammed one of his tails in front of him, releasing a massive amount of chakra at the point of impact. A trick he had learned from Sakura. The ground erupted, shook and caved in on itself, swallowing the rest of the samurai warriors, half of the servants and four buildings.

Naruto collapsed on his rear, pain and dizziness overtaking him at the same time. He was emitting so much chakra that his body was damaging itself, his healing was barely keeping up, creating an equilibrium between his raw power and his body's healing. He was in a precious balance, if he were to get hurt he wouldn't be able to heal any injuries in this state, as his healing factor was busy repairing the damage that his own chakra was causing to his body. He understood now why Kyuubi only allowed him to sprout three tails, anymore and he would begin to slowly deteriorate as the massive amounts of chakra began to eat away at his very being. And just then when he caused the mini-earthquake he had used nearly enough chakra for a fourth a tail to sprout. And now he was paying for it, blood slowly trickled out of his ears, mouth and eyes. Plus he had just used a large amount of his available chakra supply, it would be moment before Kyuubi could replenish it, hence the dizziness.

Hinata ran to him when he collapsed, Kyuubi's chakra retreating back into his body. She threw her arms around him, turning him so she could finally see his face. Sky-blue eyes stared into hers as they cried tears of blood. "Naruto! Your bleeding!"

Naruto grinned woozily, he felt drunk, "I'm fine Hinata-chan! Man did you see me though, those samurai were so hard to beat before. But I just totally kicked there asses!" he then promptly fainted in her arms, snoring gently.

Hinata looked over the devastation that he had caused with just one of his tails, nearly half of the Hyata mansion had been destroyed and more than three-quarters of the Hyata family had been wiped out. She frowned, her Shichubi side not allowing her to feel sorry for the Hyatas at all, _They deserve it for trying to take my Naruto away from me!_ She knew it was selfish thought, but Naruto and her friends were the most important things to her, and the death of distantly related family members wasn't going to make her feel sorry for them. "Yes Naruto, you definitely kicked their asses."

Neji stared through the darkness, that was only lit by the fires that Naruto's earthquake had caused. The generator cell had been at the southern side of the northern hill that looked over the town, a good five hundred feet from the Hyata mansion. But even so, Naruto's power had still destroyed nearly half of the building complex. Neji silently thanked the unconscious Naruto for not aiming towards the town.

He was about to run towards the still standing central tower, intent on finding Okinara and finishing what he had promised to do when he heard a groan escape a cluster of bushes only a few yards away from where they gathered around Naruto. He turned to look at his friends, Tenten and Hinata were tending to Naruto's healing wounds, while Sakura was looking over the still unconscious Lee. Neji shook his head, they were to busy, so he headed over to the bushes to investigate, wary of a possible enemy. Though he had no idea how a samurai could get over here, they were all on the side towards the mansion when Naruto destroyed their cell.

Neji parted the bushes gently to see an old man with a piece of shrapnel lodged in his chest. Neji thought he was dead until he shifted and groaned in pain again, "Inzo?"

Inzo slowly opened his lids, pure white eyes stared into pale lavender ones. "Ah, young Neji, I am glad you are still alive."

Neji felt anger rise to the surface, "Happy I'm still alive so you can give me to Itachi?" He was about to say more and probably work himself up to killing the old bastard when Inzo's next words stopped him.

"I tried to free you. I cut open the door right when your friend destroyed the cell. I guess that's how I got blown over here." Inzo coughed up blood, it looked black in the darkness of the night. "Okinara… I couldn't let him destroy the northern samurai, I couldn't let him destroy the world. That's why I tried to help you. You and your friend Naruto helped me realize my mistake in helping my student with his twisted dreams. He may be my lord, but I am the one who taught him, though I tried to teach him that violence was only a last resort, his father would have it no other way. I am sorry, and I hope you can forgive me."

Neji had no idea what to say, what did you do when your enemy truthfully told you that he had tried to help you at the very end? Inzo drew his sword too fast for Neji to dodge. Neji was about to yell at the man for trying to cut off his head when he heard something heavy land at his feet. Inzo had cut the suppressor collar so that it broke in half. Neji felt his chakra flow through and out of him once again. He smiled at the feeling as his energy raced through him. But he quickly focused on the problem before him, "Thank you Inzo-sama…" Neji paused, not knowing how to word the rest, "For you trying to help us in the end, I thank you as well, and I forgive you. You did not know what you did before, I am pleased with the fact that you realized your wrongs before it was too late."

Inzo smiled, "Thank you Neji-san. Now, before Okinara returns, you and your friends must escape, just because the other samurai were defeated, does not mean all of them are dead. Okinara will save those that still live so that they can aid him in hunting you down. He may be defeated, but his vengeance knows no end. He will hunt you to the very ends of the earth, you must get a head start."

Neji shook his head, "Where can we go? There is nowhere that we know of that would be safe from those that hunt us already."

Inzo smiled, "I know of a place, but if I help you again, you must swear to help me with something else… please."

Neji nodded slowly, "Very well, I will aid you."

Inzo nodded, satisfied with the answer, though he grimaced in pain with the movement, "Keep going north. You'll have to pass through Earth country, which may be dangerous for you since the Hidden Leaf and the Hidden Rock are only under a very _strained_ peace treaty. But if you succeed, you will reach the great northern mountains, they are dangerous to cross, the passes perilous with creatures, pitfalls and avalanches. But past those live the northern samurai, though they dislike ninja, it has been many centuries since they have met anyone other than merchants or other samurai. They are a gentle people, as long as you don't betray them or rile them up, for then they are the most dangerous samurai you'll ever meet." Inzo, slowly resheathed his sword, his arm shaking as he did, he gave the katana to Neji, "Take my sword Neji-san, if you show the northern samurai this, they will be sure to welcome you. You will be safe there from all dangers."

Neji shook his head as Inzo offered him the three hundred year old sword. "Inzo-sama, I-I couldn't, this sword belongs to your family."

Inzo laughed, causing him to spit up more blood, "_I _am the last of my immediate family Neji-san, and I am not worthy of this sword anymore. I do not wish for it to buried with me, but to serve another faithfully. May this sword protect you and those dear to you." He shoved the katana into Neji's hands, though the young man protested still.

Inzo tried to sit up, but fell back down, "Now you must help me with my last task on this earth Neji-san." Neji helped Inzo sit up and finally kneel. Inzo slowly drew the short-bladed wakizashi from its scabbard. "Though it was in right, I have disobeyed my lord, and therefore by my honor I must perform seppuku."

Recognizing the term Neji paled, he had read how the samurai of old had killed themselves when they dishonored themselves, their family, or their lord. They usually had someone assist them with a katana so that it was a clean death. Neji began to shake his head, "No, no, no…"

Inzo smiled, "It is okay Neji-san. I have dishonored my family and myself, for disobeying my lord, and at the same time following him without question. This is my only way of regaining my honor." Inzo's face turned serious, almost pleading, "Please Neji-san, I am already dieing, help me to at least die an honorable death."

Neji took a deep breath, trying his best to calm himself. The pleading tone in Inzo's voice had forced him out of his terror of helping a man kill himself. But from the way Inzo spoke of it, he realized the old man did not fear death, he only feared for his soul. Neji nodded slowly and stood behind Inzo so he didn't have to see his face.

Inzo smiled, "Thank you Neji-san." He went through several smooth motions with the wakizashi then held it out from his body, point towards his stomach. But before he completed the act Neji heard him speak one last time, "If you ever decide to follow the path of Bushido, young Neji, choose a lord that you know will never disappoint you. That way you won't end up like me. Follow your own samurai way, Neji. And I will follow mine." And then without another word he plunged the short sword into his stomach, slicing sideways so he opened his body to the world.

Neji pulled back with the katana like a baseball bat. When Inzo grunted with pain, he closed his eyes and swung.

* * *

Hinata and the others looked up as Neji emerged from the bushes. He carried two swords, one long the other short, both were sheathed and hung from his waist. Before he reached them he turned back to the bushes and performed a simple fire jutsu, setting the shrubbery on fire and Inzo's body and head with it. 

He stood there in silence for several minutes, gazing into the fire and remembering everything the old man had said to him. He suddenly looked to his friends, his features soft and caring. He would protect them with the sword Inzo gave him, just like Naruto protected them with his demon, he would give up his life for them, just like Naruto.

Tenten, worried about her love, stood up and walked to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. "Neji, where do we go now?"

Neji smiled gently, "We head north. We'll stop once we're a few miles away, and then we'll help Naruto and Lee. I'll explain where we're going once we wake them up."

Tenten, Sakura and Hinata, hearing the confidence in his voice, quickly helped him gather the unconscious forms of Lee and Naruto and began their hike over the hill and beyond. The fact that Neji apparently had a plan helped liven their spirits and give them that extra boost to make it to where ever they were going to camp.

At the top of the hill they looked down upon the village of Bushi. The western section where the mansion was located was burning brightly as more of the mansions buildings caught fire.

Neji looked to the northern star and started the decent down the hill with his blond blood brother on his shoulders. He didn't look back.

* * *

Okinara burst through his doors and into his room, intent on gathering his things and escaping before the blood thirsty demon came for him. 

"You failed Hyata Okinara."

Okinara stopped to stare at the two figures standing in the middle of his room. They were both clad in black robes decorated with fluffy red clouds. Okinara couldn't help imagining that those clouds would rain blood. "I-Itachi!"

Itachi stared blankly at the old samurai, "You have failed me Hyata. I am very displeased." His voice was so neutral that Okinara could barely tell that Itachi was displeased with him. "You did not capture the jinchuuriki as our deal stated, and you ran away to let your men fight the demon vessel alone."

Kisame backed away from Itachi, was there anger in his last words? Kisame had never seen Itachi angry, he doubted anyone had… and lived.

Okinara grabbed his sword, "My men are nothing but pawns. They would gladly die to aid their lord's escape! And as for the deal, its off, I think I'd rather kill you now." Okinara began to draw his sword as fast as possible. But just as the sword's tip escaped the scabbard, Itachi was suddenly there, his hand on the hilt of the sword, gently pressing the sword's tip to Okinara's stomach. Okinara's eyes widened in shock and panic "What the? How…!" He hadn't even seen Itachi move! How could anyone be that fast!

Itachi's voice was dryer than dust, and sharper than knife blades, "I do not like people who think other's lives are more worthless than trash. You have… made me upset Okinara. I do not think you should have done that."

Itachi slammed the katana through Okinara's chest, putting the entire sword and half of his arm through his body. Okinara could see his world go black, but before he died, he felt a pull on his soul. _No…_ a pull that dragged his soul into a blazing red and black eye. _NO!_

Itachi slowly pulled his arm out of Okinara's chest, dropping the sword on the ground. Kisame was pressed against the wall, he knew Itachi hadn't used genjutsu to hypnotize the samurai and make him think that he moved faster than sight, because Itachi really _had_ moved faster than sight. Kisame was terrified, he now knew why Itachi was the third most powerful of the Akutsuki ever since he joined. _No wonder he doesn't worry about fighting the jinchuuriki! His chakra level is insane!_

Itachi turned to Kisame, though his face didn't show it, the anger was easily seen in his eyes. Kisame watched as that rare expression of emotion suddenly died as if it never existed, leaving those blood red eyes as hollow as empty graves.

He walked over the dead body of Okinara and out the doors. "Come Kisame, we must be on our way now. I wish to know where our quarry will decide to go."

Kisame, nodded his head and trailed after Itachi, careful not to get too close. He knew better than to do that. "Alright, I've gotten tired of just waiting around, I prefer to chase after my prey than just wait for it."

Itachi didn't respond. He didn't have to, Kisame would follow him anywhere, as long as he never, _ever_ made Itachi angry with him.

May hell have mercy on his damned soul if that were to ever happen.

* * *

Alright! You all happy now Okinara is dead? Don't worry, I have something in store for you much later. And for those of you who are up to date on the latest manga, yes I got the idea of Naruto's 'limitation' from the manga. Hey its the Naruto universe, I don't own it, but I sure as hell can use it! Muahahahaha!

Now give me reviews! I really want to get over 1,000 reviews with my next four or five chapters. Selfish goal I know, but I want to be as good as DameWren, or Foxie-sama, or maybe even better! That would be a dream come true for me! Especially if either of them were to read my fic and like it. That would make me happy beyond belief. Ooh Ooh, we have forums now! This is still selfish of me, but I would like you guys to post my story in the forums area to try and get more Naruto nuts (like you and me) to read my fic. I can't do it, because I'm not _that_ selfish, only a little. lol.

**Chapter Preview!** Your much awaited NaruHina fluffiness! that has been absent somewhat for the past five chapters. And some looks into Neji's thoughts. Oh, and of course the fate of Rock Lee...


	23. Immortality of the Heart

Woohoo! Damn I got that U2 song stuck in my head. And a bunch of j-pop songs. Oh well, anyway as many of you seem to be noticing, its taking me a little over a week to update lately. This would have to do with my job. Grrrrrr. How I hate work, but I do need and like the money, though it isn't much. At least I can take my time on each of the chapters.

Well, here's the next chapter. Its a little wierd during the first half, and the entire seconf half is pretty sad (just giving you fair warning)... hm... mabye I made it too depressing. Ah well, live with it!

Well I guess there's not much else to say other than don't expect me to be cranking out a chapter every couple of days or so for a little while okay?

So YOJNE!... (read it backwards you dimwit...)

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 23: Immortality of the Heart**

"Raaaaaaaaaarrrrgh!"

He slammed his wing through yet another stone column, knocking it into small shards of its former self. "Damn him! He went too far! I should've known he would disobey me!"

"Orochimaru-sama, please calm yourself. If you continue like this you'll bring the entire fortress down on top of us." Kabuto had no idea what to do now, he knew his master would be upset at the news of Sasuke's death. But he hadn't figured out a way to calm the Snake Sannin down. "You knew the boy was unstable to begin with. No matter how much potential he had, he was constantly disobeying you, even though he was your slave. He was too much like Kimimaro, he would not have made a proper host for you anyways."

Orochimaru growled menacingly at the small human who spoke to him, red eyes glowing menacingly as he bared needle point fangs. But Kabuto stared at him unafraid, he would die for his master if he were to simply ask. After a long moment Orochimaru sighed, a harsh gravely sound that came from deep within his throat, "Yes, you are correct." He walked slowly over to his throne and sat down heavily, his heavy robes settling slowly around him. "Ever since he achieved level three of the curse seal he became an unsuitable host."

Kabuto smiled, he had finally gotten the rampaging monster that was his master to calm down. It was amazing what a few simple words could do. "Yes. Anyone with the curse seal who ascends above level two becomes difficult to control after you use Metampsychosis on them. For their soul isn't pushed out of the body like a normal being, the advanced curse seal makes it difficult for one to push away the host's soul. Even for someone as powerful as you Orochimaru-sama, you would have had to share Sasuke-kun's body with his soul. For the most you would've been able to do, was merely push the soul to the side, and knowing Sasuke-kun he would've fought with you constantly."

Orochimaru sighed, as he lifted his clawed hand and gazed at it, remembering why it was a monster's hand now and not the beautiful hands he once possessed himself. When he had been brought back from his fight with Itachi, Sasuke was nowhere to be found, apparently out on one of his self-appointed missions, probably hunting down Itachi.

Funny how it was Orochimaru's luck to find him first.

Orochimaru had refused to take Kabuto or any other human host, he wanted Sasuke and Sasuke alone. No other human body would've sufficed. But he was too injured, he would have died before the young Uchiha returned. Orochimaru decided that if he couldn't have Sasuke's Sharingan right then, then he would at least have a body that was more powerful than his current one. He had Kabuto do the summoning for him, preparing the complicated spiritual prison before hand.

Using the knowledge that he had gained while with the Akatsuki, Orochimaru had Kabuto summon not just any demon, but a Uesama-rank demon… an Emperor demon. Demons close to the same rank as the nine Youma, the very demons trapped inside the jinchuuriki.

The demon came, but because he was no Koumajutsu master, the demon would've torn him and Kabuto to pieces, hence the reason for the prison that the demon lord was summoned into. It was long and painful, but Orochimaru fused his essence with the demon, forming a new, more powerful body. Now when he would be able to use the Metampsychosis technique again, his newly fused soul, demon and all would be transferred to the new body.

Orochimaru clenched his hand into a fist, his skin so hard that not even his razor sharp claws could pierce it. The body was indeed powerful, but he longed for his original body and its smooth skin. He wanted to look beautiful and be powerful at the same time.

"Have you finished preparing it yet Kabuto-kun?" Orochimaru's voice hissed like a thousand snakes.

Kabuto bowed, "Yes Orochimaru-sama. After confirming Sasuke-kun's death, I was able to hunt down the needed ingredients while in Fire country." It had only taken him two days to find Sasuke. Orochimaru had given him an advanced jigokinu to track down his whereabouts. After seeing the destruction that was apparently Naruto-kun's hiding place, Kabuto knew that Sasuke-kun was indeed gone. He had then searched for the herbs unique to Fire country that were needed in the potion he was making for Orochimaru.

Orochimaru smiled, "And have you prepared the ritual?"

Kabuto nodded again, "If you will please follow me." He turned, knowing Orochimaru would follow him. He was the only subordinate of Orochimaru's who seemed to be safe from his wrath, and the only one who could do such a disrespectful thing as showing his back to his master. But of course, Orochimaru was the one who raised him from an infant.

Orochimaru's hulking form followed Kabuto through several corridors of the underground fortress, until they came to the very room that Orochimaru used to summon the jigokinu's that hunted down Naruto, and to summon the demon he was now fused with. In the center of the floor was painted a complex seal. Circular in shape, it's symbols and runes created a dizzying spiral that circled clockwise out from the center. Orochimaru's heart quickened in excitement, he had spent years developing this jutsu and months planning it. If it worked he may never have to use Metampsychosis again.

Orochimaru shed his robes, exposing his black and red skin, bony spikes and short tentacles sticking out at odd angles; and walked to the center of the circle. His legs were bent oddly, like a dogs legs, his feet were reptilian with only three toes, each with a wickedly curved black claw. He even had a thick muscular tail that was twice as long as he was tall, he usually kept it wrapped around his body underneath the robes.

Kabuto walked to Orochimaru and handed him a small glass vial that held maybe two or three drops of a thick black liquid. It looked and smelled of oil. He then walked back just outside of the circle. "When I activate the circle you must drink the entire potion at the exact same time. If you don't it will take us years to gather the ingredients again."

Orochimaru growled, the ingredients were hard to come by. The blood of a jinchuuriki, the bones of one of the great spirit animals, one thousand souls of properly sacrificed individuals, dew from the petals of the rare fire flower that only existed in Fire country. Orochimaru smiled, and the most important ingredient, an ingredient that had cost him the use of his arms at one point in time.

The hair of a Kage level individual who would be condemned to spending eternity in the stomach of Death himself. Orochimaru remembered that fight with Sarutobi, the third Hokage of Konoha, and the pain it had caused him to gather that one bit of hair as his past sensei was drawn into the stomach of the great Shinigami.

All those ingredients were condensed down into the small vial that he held now. Metampsychosis was only the first step in achieving true immortality. He would've wanted Sasuke's body when he did this, but there was no waiting anymore. The brat was dead and this was his only chance at becoming powerful enough.

Orochimaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath, focusing himself and finding his center. "Alright Kabuto, begin… NOW!"

Kabuto bit his thumbs and slammed his hands on the floor, touching just the edge of the circle, "**Kinjutsu! Kamikage Hen'I no Jutsu!**" (Forbidden Technique! God Shadow Transmutation Technique!) The entire circle and all its runes lit up with bluish-green light. Lighting up the outer edge and then spiraling inward towards Orochimaru.

Orochimaru waited until the last moment when the light reached him and brought the vial to his lips, swallowing all of the liquid just as the light touched him. It tasted like rancid slime.

The seal exploded with blue lightening that spiraled inwards and engulfed Orochimaru, lifting him up off the ground and holding him suspended five feet from the floor. "AAAAAaaaaaaaaHHhhhhhhh!"

Orochimaru's mind was filled with the pain as the ritual forced open all eight of his celestial gates at once. He could feel the power wash over him like a tsunami, and at the same time he could feel his body begin to deteriorate as all restraints on his chakra were released at the exact same time. He could focus on nothing but the pain of his body wasting away, and the pure ecstasy as the feeling of invincibility overtook him.

Then it all began to change as the potion began to take its effect. His body shrunk, changing once again. The pain was almost too much for him to bear, but he forced himself to stay focused on the changes happening to him, if he fell unconscious he would die.

The lightening surged, exploding and causing a thick haze of smoke to obscure all sight within the room. Just as Orochimaru thought he would pass out from the pain the electrical energy surrounding him surged one last time and disappeared, dropping him onto the ground. The entire room was engulfed in deathly silence as the ritual ended. It had only taken a few seconds.

Kabuto breathed heavily, the only sound he could hear, as he waited in anxious silence. He was consumed with fear for his master. If the ritual was not performed correctly, Orochimaru would be dead. He squinted, trying his hardest to see through the haze of smoke that permeated the room.

As the smokescreen cleared, Kabuto could see a shadowy shape slowly stand up and begin to walk towards him. "Orochi…maru-sama?"

The smoke cleared to reveal a nude Orochimaru, his pale skin shining in the dim light. Kabuto gaped, he was more beautiful than ever before. He was now in his original human form, his original height and shape, all traces of the demon-fused monster that he once was, completely non-existent. But now a halo of purple chakra surrounded his body, the amount of power coming off of him was enough to paralyze Kabuto in his tracks. It was the most amazing thing Kabuto had ever seen or felt.

Orochimaru stared at his body. He had returned to his former self! It had worked! But now, he was even better. He looked up at Kabuto who gaped at the godly image that was his master. Orochimaru now possessed six of the Souseki Fuuin (Genesis Seal). Six diamond shaped seals arranged in an upside down triangle on his forehead. The very seal that his ex-teammate, Tsunade, possessed. The very seal that allowed one to regenerate any attack almost instantly.

A deep chuckle started in his throat, then escaped through his mouth as a laugh consumed by evil. It had worked! Now he possessed six times the regeneration power of the Godaime of Konoha, and that combined with his demon-fused soul, allowed him to have all eight of his celestial gates open at once, for with his near endless amounts of chakra he could constantly regenerate his body. And that was with only _one _of the Souseki Fuuin active.

He had achieved near godhood and was now effectively immortal. He would never age, nearly all wounds would be healed instantly, he would not get sick and because he was the Snake Sannin he was already immune to all forms of poison. Metampsychosis was the stepping stone to developing this Jutsu, and now he had achieved his dream… or at least part of it.

Orochimaru walked to Kabuto slowly, a smile splitting his face. Kabuto quickly produced clothing for his master, clothing that Orochimaru hadn't been able to wear for nearly a year due to his altered form. The gray robes and purple belt that he always preferred.

After Kabuto finished dressing him, he reached out and cradled his subordinate's face. Gently running his fingers through the soft white hair. "You have done well Kabuto. You have served me well. More than any other, I value _you_ by my side."

Kabuto closed his eyes, taking pleasure in his master's touch. Orochimaru was the world to him, he had raised him, trained him in everything that he knew. Kabuto's only ambition in life was to please Orochimaru-sama no matter what, even if the Snake Sannin cared for him or not, he only existed to make him happy. It's the only reason he wanted to exist. And gaining such praise from the man he looked up to was pure ecstasy for him.

Kabuto opened his eyes, "Orochimaru-sama, I am glad you are alive, and even more that the jutsu was a success." Kabuto grinned, "But I know that this was only a part of your ambition. Your other was to attain the use of the Sharingan, and even though Sasuke-kun is now deceased, may I remind you that he was not the only surviving Uchiha."

Orochimaru smiled, baring normal human teeth, though the canines were slightly elongated, resembling the fangs of a poisonous snake. "Yes, Itachi has always been one of the most powerful ninja that I know of. Though I must wonder how he will fare against me now?" He laughed, "I will get revenge on that Uchiha trash, and gain the Sharingan at the same time! Two birds with one stone, as the saying goes."

Kabuto nodded, but frowned in thought, "But now that you have a achieved a truly immortal body, how will you gain the Sharingan without using Metampsychosis? After all, the original plan was to use this jutsu after you had gained Sasuke-kun's body."

Orochimaru grinned, gently caressing medic-nin's face, "Ah, but you forget our dear friend Hatake Kakashi. How hard do you think it will be to transplant a Mangekyou Sharingan?" He drew close to Kabuto so that their faces were mere millimeters from each other.

Kabuto could feel his heart quicken as Orochimaru's breath brushed against his skin, "Not… hard at all Orochimaru…sama. I could perform the procedure easily. You just need… to make… sure that Itachi is still alive so that I can do it." He was breathing heavily now that Orochimaru's breath was tickling his exposed neck.

"You have served me so faithfully Kabuto-san. I was afraid of losing my greatest asset, that's why I refused you before. But now I think I will grant you your wish so that you can serve me fully." Orochimaru suddenly bit Kabuto's neck, his fangs sinking in as he pumped in his chakra like a snake's venom.

Kabuto winced at the sharp pain, but did not cry out. Instead he moaned in ecstasy. He had always wanted Orochimaru-sama's curse seal, but he was always refused. But now he had proven himself, and he would be able to serve his master as one who was truly apart of the great being that was Orochimaru the Snake Sannin. "… yes. Thank you… Orochimaru… sama…"

Orochimaru pulled away, letting Kabuto pass out in his arms as the curse seal began to form on the back of his neck. Orochimaru began to carry the unconscious boy to his bedroom, carrying the weight as if it were nothing. He didn't know what his new chakra would do to the boy. But even though only ten percent normally survived, he had a feeling Kabuto would survive easily, and would grow to rival even Sasuke-kun's power before he had died at the hands of Naruto.

Orochimaru smiled to himself, bathing in the amphetamine rush that had overtaken him after the ritual. After Kabuto went through the transformation into the second form of the curse seal, he supposed it would be time to search for Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Itachi.

Orochimaru laughed wickedly. Matter of fact, after Kabuto was fully functional and by his side once again, it would probably be time to begin the second step of his plan.

To invade Fire country and begin the war that would end all wars.

* * *

Naruto sat in the hayloft of the barn, staring out at the half-moon as it floated lazily across the night sky. He was trying his best to ignore the loud moaning coming from Lee as Hinata and Sakura worked on his arm. 

It had only taken them a couple of hours before they found a small abandoned farm a few miles from Bushi. The old barn was old and beginning to collapse in on itself, but it would offer the needed shelter for the night.

After they had settled down, Sakura had begun immediately on Lee's arm. Neji had asked if she would be able to save it, but the pink-haired chuunin had replied with a heavy voice that up to his elbow, Lee's arm was completely dead. And it looked it. From his fingertips to just below his elbow, his skin was as black as if it had been burned. And above the dead flesh the skin was turning a dark purple color as it bruised and slowly died.

Sakura needed Hinata's Byakugen, and the abilities of Shichubi to help numb Lee's pain, as she began the operation. No operation tools were needed, Hinata was able to use Shichubi's healing abilities to sanitize the area they needed to work on, and Sakura, using her medic-nin training was able to use a Chakra Enjintou (Chakra Scalpel) to operate on Lee's arm.

Naruto had climbed the ladder to the hayloft before he could watch the scalpel of invisible chakra cut into Lee's flesh. _Man Lee, you've really done it this time._ He had no idea how Lee was going to handle the loss of his right arm. Naruto shook his head, the only good thing about Lee was that he couldn't use ninjutsu, so he wouldn't need his hands to do any seals. Naruto smiled, knowing Lee, he would work three times as hard to make up for the loss of one of his limbs. But the smile disappeared quickly as a sharp pain in his hand returned for a second time.

**You should probably tell them about that, you know. It looks kinda serious.** As caring as the words were, Kyuubi couldn't help but put a mocking tone behind them.

Naruto frowned, _Too much is on their minds already you dumb fox… I don't want to worry them more than they already are._ Naruto ignored Kyuubi's growl of disagreement. It was weird having the fox in his head constantly now, he had always been able to feel his presence as if it were a great distance away. But now he could feel the demon in the back of his head at all times, watching and experiencing everything he did.

Naruto slowly pulled back the sleeve of the black Kimono he was wearing, to gaze at his right forearm. If he didn't know any better, he'd of said his arm was dieing like Lee's. From his fingertips to halfway up his forearm, Naruto was covered in what looked like black flame marks, as if they were tattooed onto his arm. _Shit._ This was the second time they had popped up, the last was the day he had killed Sasuke and they had started on their way towards Bushi.

Kyuubi growled, Naruto could feel him mentally shaking his massive head. **That's what you get for using your Zenseigan on a curse seal… idiot.**

Naruto frowned, he knew what it was, he had seen the same markings on Sasuke what seemed so many years ago. The same markings that had covered his body when he activated Orochimaru's curse seal. Kyuubi had already explained why they appeared, there wasn't much to talk about with his comrades as they limped away from Bushi, since he was unconscious most of the way to the barn. So he had instead talked to Kyuubi. Understanding how the Zenseigan worked even better than Naruto, Kyuubi went through Naruto's memories and told him what had happened. He didn't know if Kyuubi knowing more about the Zenseigan had to do with the fact that the fox was an ancient Demon Lord, or because there was more to it than what he was telling him.

Apparently, during the last moments of his fight with Sasuke, when Naruto had used the Zenseigan to drain the chakra from Sasuke's curse seal to weaken him. Naruto had brought some of the corruption of the curse onto himself as well. The chakra the curse seal emitted was corrupted and vile, it drove Sasuke mad after all, and Naruto hadn't really thought about it when he used his bloodline. He could drain chakra from seals, but apparently draining chakra from cursed seals, especially ones created by Orochimaru, was a bad idea. But even though Kyuubi understood what _had_ happened, neither he nor Naruto knew what _would_ happen.

Naruto waited patiently, staring at the markings on his arm and drowning out Lee's moans as Sakura slowly and methodically cut off his arm. It took a few moments, but the flame marks lit up and slowly withdrew into his skin, it had done that the last time. the markings had appeared as he took the night's first watch after Sasuke attacked the Tree-house, nearly making him scream in surprise from the pain. Luckily everyone else was asleep when it happened.

Naruto felt overwhelmed with their current situation. So much had happened, his friends had gone through so much pain and turmoil. And all for him. It was because of him that they were here now, because of him that all of this had started in the first place. He had put them through so much suffering, and they still stood by him, even after knowing what he was. How could he ever repay them? They stood by him even though he had several S-class criminals after his hide and now an entire clan of blood thirsty samurai, if any of them lived, they would be sure to hunt him and his friends down. And even now, after a week of running and hiding they had to run some more. And they were going to follow him into Earth country, probably the worst place for Konoha ninjas who didn't have border passes to be.

Naruto drew his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them. How were they going to get through this? How was he going to protect them? He knew there would only be more pain ahead. Both Orochimaru and Itachi would hunt him to the ends of this reality and into the next. _Everywhere I go, I bring danger to anyone and everyone around me. How can I even think of asking my friends… my** Family** to come with me where I won't be sure I can protect them?_

He felt like crying all of a sudden. While they were staying in Bushi they were too wrapped up in the euphoria of discovering the new family they had created together. But now, after Okinara's betrayal, and running yet again, the stress was beginning to overwhelm him. The loss of Sasuke and the Tree-house was all still too new.

Ever since he had held the dieing form of Sasuke in his arms, he hadn't cried, or mourned once. He couldn't, not while he had to stay alert and protect his friends.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder startling him out of his reverie. He looked up to see soft lavender eyes gazing affectionately into his. That's when he realized that Lee's moaning had stopped, he hadn't realized how long he had been lost in his own thoughts. He looked down from the loft to see Lee sleeping, his head resting in a sleeping Sakura's lap, and his right shoulder bandaged where an arm would normally protrude.

Hinata sat next to him, "We had to amputate the entire arm. The infection had spread nearly to the shoulder, though you couldn't see it on the outside, we wanted to be safe. I… incinerated the arm afterwards."

Naruto frowned, he felt a lump start to form in his throat, "Is he…?"

Hinata smiled gently, bringing Naruto's head into her lap so that he was staring up at her as she ran her fingers through his golden strands of hair. "Lee-san will be fine. And he will still be able to fight, but after using his gates too much he'll have to rest for nearly two weeks before Sakura will let him do anything that even resembles taijutsu."

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, when the doctor says no, she means _no_. Especially when its Sakura-chan." They giggled at the thought of Sakura pounding Lee for practicing taijutsu and probably making his injuries worse. But the strained laughter stopped shortly after.

Hinata frowned as Naruto's eyes dulled and filled with sadness. "Naruto-kun, what is it? What's wrong?"

Naruto closed his eyes, he hadn't meant for her to see his anxiety. But he could never resist that soft voice when it asked him such an innocent question. "…so many things Hinata-chan… so many things…"

Hinata bent down and gently kissed his forehead. She had listened to many of Naruto's problems, and they were even more important to her now. Of late, all she could see was an underlying sadness in her love's eyes, oh what she would give to bring the happiness back into those sky-blue orbs. "We have all night. Tell me… please?"

Naruto swallowed roughly, he couldn't break down now, he had to at least make sense of all the emotions that were roiling inside of him first. "How can all of you forgive me? How can I ever repay any of you? Why don't you hate me?"

Hinata frowned, "We don't hate you because we love you. Naruto, we could never hate you."

Naruto looked back towards the moon, his eyes becoming distant. "But all of this is my fault. All of it. Its because of me that we had to go to the Tree-house, its because of me that Orochimaru sent Sasuke after me. Its because of _me_ that Itachi has been following us and told Okinara to betray us. If it weren't for me, Lee wouldn't have lost his arm, the Tree-house wouldn't have been destroyed, and… and Sasuke… he wouldn't have had to…I wouldn't of had to…" He couldn't stop the tears, they came of their own will. He shook, holding back the sobs as the tears ran from his eyes and down his temples.

Hinata drew Naruto up, holding his head to her chest as he cried. She felt her love for him overwhelm her, and she suddenly felt extremely protective, she always did when Naruto was suffering like this. She ran her fingers through his hair and caressed his face as the tears ran freely. She felt dampness on her cheeks and realized she was crying as well. It had only been a week since the 'incident', and seeing Naruto's pain brought her own pain to the surface as well. As much as she hated Sasuke for causing Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan so much pain, she grieved his death just as much as the others.

"We could never hate you Naruto. Ever. And as for forgiving you, there is nothing to forgive you for. We followed you knowing full well the amount of danger we would face, it was our own choice. You never have to repay us for that, you being alive is enough payment for us I think. Its definitely enough for me." She squeezed him gently, "I love you so much Naruto. No matter what, I will always be by your side. I promised it. Neji, Tenten, Lee and especially Sakura, they'll will always be by our sides as well." Hinata willed him to understand what she was trying to say, "_We_ love you Naruto. _I _love you…"

Naruto felt the strength in that gentle voice, and he latched on to that strength like a lifeline. He needed Hinata's strength right now, for he had none of his own left. _What would I do without her? I could I ever have thought of her as nothing but a friend? How could I live without her?_ How could he not love her. "…thank you so much Hinata-chan. Thank you so much." He was no longer sobbing, but he let the tears run freely as he took comfort in Hinata's embrace. "I love you Hinata-chan. I love you so much. I don't know what I would do without you."

Her heart nearly exploded with the amount of joy she felt at those words. What she would give to see him happy and saying those three words over and over again. They had been through so much in the past week, more than they ever had in the eight months spent at the Tree-house. _But at least it was all spent together._

Naruto felt strength and conviction return to him. If he didn't want anything bad to happen again, then he would just have to make sure himself that it wouldn't happen. He _would_ protect them, no matter what. They were his family now, and he would give anything and everything to them, he looked down at his right hand as it lay intertwined with Hinata's. He also had no secrets from them.

"… a part of Sasuke still lives." Naruto pulled away gently to gaze intently in to Hinata's eyes. "Inside of me." Hinata frowned not understanding. Naruto, reluctantly pulled the sleeve of his right arm back and focused his chakra into his forearm, searching for what he knew was there. It only took a moment, the dark mixture that was Sasuke's chakra and the chakra from the curse seal was easy to sense against his mixture of blue and red. He activated it causing Hinata to gasp softly as the black flame marks spread across his arm. He winced, it was painful and he hated it. The pain 'felt' too much like Sasuke, and all it did was bring back sad memories of when they were younger.

But instead of a scream or a frightened gasp, he found his arm taken into Hinata's hands. She studied the markings carefully, gently running her fingers across the markings, and tickling his skin. "…how?…how did this happen?" Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, the overwhelming concern in her voice showed that she did not fear him. He supposed that even now, so many months after finding acceptance and love, he was still paranoid of other people fearing and hating him. He calmly told her how it happened, also adding in that Kyuubi was no longer asleep but fully awake, and going into detail how that worked as well.

Hinata listened intently through it all, making Naruto smile slightly. She always did that, when it came to telling his problems, there was no better listener in the world than Hinata. "But even Kyuubi doesn't know what will happen with this chakra being in my body."

Hinata nodded, taking her time to think. She nodded her head again when she came to a realization and silently applauded herself for knowing Naruto so well. "I would offer to remove it with Shichubi and mine's powers. But I remember you saying that this is the only living part of Sasuke-kun left. Knowing you… you want to keep it, right?"

Naruto hung his head in guilt, she had seen right through him. As worried as he was about not knowing what would happen with the corrupted chakra inside of him, he wanted to hold onto it; he wanted to cherish it, for it was the last piece of Sasuke he would ever have, no matter how much he hated the pain it caused him, he wanted to keep Sasuke alive as long as possible. Even if it was only this dark chakra that was left. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan. I know its selfish of me, but I can't help wanting to keep this part of Sasuke with me. No matter how dark and corrupted it is. I'm sorry." He held out his arm, knowing it had to be done. It was too dangerous to keep something like that with him, no matter how much he wanted to keep it.

He felt her hands gently take his forearm. He waited for something to happen, a sign that would tell him she was removing Sasuke's chakra. But instead he felt himself being pulled forward. He found soft lips against his, pressing gently.

Hinata pulled away slowly, "I'm not going to take Sasuke away from you Naruto-kun. As long as you want this, and as long as it will make you happy, then… I want you to have it too!" Hinata blushed suddenly, the hot flame covering her entire face. That hadn't happened in awhile. "…just make sure you tell us… tell _me_ if anything wrong, _anything_ wrong happens." She hugged him to her, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face into the crook of his neck. "Please…"

Naruto understood, she was speaking of more than just the dark chakra in his right arm. All the past doubts he had, all the past concerns were suddenly and violently shoved to the side by Hinata's strength, and by her care and love for him.

He hugged her to him, breathing in the scent of her hair and memorizing the soft brush of the dark strands against his face. She always smelled like lavender, no matter how long they had been without a shower, she was the best smelling creature he had ever held. He almost giggled at that, he loved everything about her, _everything_, even her smell.

They fell asleep like that, sitting in each other's embrace, softly breathing in each other's scent, and letting the other's warmth lull them into the world of dreams.

* * *

Neji had his eyes closed, but he could still see everything that was going on around him. He smiled slightly at the sight of Hinata and Naruto, they hadn't moved from that position for nearly an hour. They must've fallen asleep. 

Of course, he felt like he was going to fall asleep as well. He was lying down, not too far from where Lee and Sakura slept, his head was in Tenten's lap. She was leaning over him and using his chest as a table as she wrote on scroll paper.

Before they had gotten too far from Bushi, he and Tenten had left the other's in a secluded spot, trusting Sakura and Hinata to watch over Lee and Naruto. They had gone back to Bushi, and under the chaos of the Hyata mansion being burnt down, they had done what ninjas did best. They had infiltrated the weapons and supply shop and had grabbed six survival packs and stuffed them as full as possible. The had grabbed food, blank scrolls and ink, med-kits, dried food, and of course weapons. They had even tied things to the outsides of the bags, including more weapons, belts, pouches and even clothes. Though Bushi didn't get much trafficking with ninjas, they still had more than enough kunai, shuriken and other ninja related items for their needs. Before they had left, Neji had insisted on leaving a note behind with his signature and the Hyuuga house seal. Though it would point to a Hyuuga being the thief, it would allow the store owner to pay for his stolen property using Hyuuga clan money.

Neji chuckled lightly, Hiashi was going to be very sore with him and Hinata when they finally returned to Konoha. _First I allow Naruto to get away with knowing some of the Hyuuga clan techniques, then he removes my Caged-bird seal, then I give _my_ approval for Hinata's and Naruto's relationship, then Naruto releases Shichubi and tells everyone about it, _then_ I bring Naruto into the Hyuuga clan as a full member. And now some store owner will be taking several thousand yen out of the Hyuuga bank, free of charge._ And best of all, he didn't regret a single one of those things that he had done. Not a single one. Naruto had really changed him, and he couldn't help thinking it was for the better.

Tenten sat up and looked down at him, "Enjoying the view love?" She smiled slyly.

Neji grinned and opened his eyes, _Speaking of people who constantly change me for the better._ "Only when I can see those beautiful brown eyes of yours." Tenten rolled her eyes at that, but there was a faint blush on her cheeks. Neji looked at the scroll on his chest, "What are you working on?"

Tenten cocked her head to the side, and raised an eyebrow, "Can't you tell? I'm making my weapon scrolls. My last ones were destroyed at… the Tree-house." Tenten's eyes became distant for a moment, she couldn't help remembering that the very bridge that Neji had proposed to her, the very bridge they had visited so often afterwards, was destroyed and gone for ever.

Neji did not fail at noticing the slight pause when Tenten mentioned the Tree-house. Neji sat up slowly, gently moving the scrolls off his chest, making sure he didn't smear the still wet ink and snuffed out the candle Tenten had lit. He picked Tenten up and sat her in his lap, she lay with her head under his chin, their hands intertwined together. They sat like that for a moment before Neji spoke, "I'm going to miss that bridge… I always thought it was the best place to see the stars and the moon at night. You have the most beautiful eyes when the moonlight shines in them."

Tenten nodded smiling a little at the compliment. Neji could feel a slight dampness begin to soak through his shirt. Tenten was crying. He felt a hot rage well up inside of him suddenly, surprising himself, and an overbearing sense of protectiveness overtake him. He realized he hated seeing Tenten cry, and he would kill anyone who made her cry on purpose. He vaguely wondered if this was how Naruto felt when Hinata cried. For a moment he couldn't place the rage, but it didn't take long, it was easy to figure out who's fault it was that the home he and his friends had made together was destroyed.

Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin.

Neji hated Orochimaru more than he ever did before, he would pay for making tears of pain come to the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. When Tenten spoke it was strained, as if she were trying to hold back the tears that welled up of their own will. "I'm going to miss that place so much. We have so many memories there, so many precious memories."

Neji felt his heart tear at the sorrow in Tenten's voice. It was almost too much as a single tear escaped his pale eye , burning a trail down his face to drip off his chin and land on Tenten's lips. She looked up as she felt the teardrop hit her, just as Neji spoke, "But we have the memories still Tenten. We will _always_ have those memories. No matter what, the Tree-house, our home, will live on forever in _all_ our hearts."

She smiled through her tears and kissed him. "And you wonder sometimes why I love you so much." She rested her head against his chest again, feeling much better now. Her scrolls could wait until later.

Neji rested his chin on top of Tenten's head and smiled. The pain of losing their home and comrade would forever be with them. But no matter what happened in the uncertain future, those memories would forever be with them as well. His concerns over Inzo's samurai swords and his last words to him, could wait a little longer.

Sakura held Lee's head in her lap as she rested her back against the barn wall with a blanket around her shoulders and another covering Lee up to his chin. She was only a few feet away from Neji and Tenten, who were actively whispering to each other at the moment, they were the ones who were to stay awake tonight and keep watch.

* * *

She hadn't fallen asleep, though she wished she could. The procedure had taken over an hour and a half, and she had hated every moment of it. Sakura mentally kicked herself, she was trained as a medic-nin by none other than Tsunade the Slug Sannin herself, she shouldn't be upset about an operation. She had done many practice operations, and a couple real ones before, she was trained by the best and was even better than Shizune now. She was quite literally the second best medic-nin in the world, except of course for one person who may be better than her. Yakushi Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man. 

But no matter how well trained she was, no matter how used she was to seeing blood and the insides of other people, she couldn't help hating what she had done to Lee. Every time she had seen her Chakra Enjintou slice through one of his muscles she felt as if she were committing some great sin. His arms and legs were everything to him, they were the only way he could prove his ninja way, his ambition to be a top ninja even though he couldn't perform ninjutsu or genjutsu.

And she had taken away a part of his dream.

Yes, she was sure that he would be able to become a great ninja, even while missing his right arm; she could easily imagine him spending hours every day training his left arm to not only be as good as his right was, but to be better. But even so, by removing that arm she had made his path more difficult.

_But he was going to die._

But that logic was lost on her, she knew she wasn't thinking rationally. If she hadn't removed the arm he would've never been able to reach his ambition. Even now, when he was considered a great jounin by so many of his peers, she knew that deep down in his heart he strived to be better. She remembered that one night at the Tree-house, so long ago.

She had been restless that night. Talking with Tenten about how Neji seemed to be eyeing her more and more every passing day had made Sakura think of her own relationship problems, and now she couldn't get any sleep. So she had gotten up in the middle of the night to take a walk, and here she was walking across old bridges over four-hundred feet in the air in a light pink night robe. 

She stopped when she heard something in the distance. It was faint, but after walking towards it for a bit she realized it was coming from the dojo. It was the sound of someone repeatedly hitting something.

* * *

_She had found herself following the sound and before she knew it, her feet had lead her to the great expanse that was the dojo. In the main training room, which took up about three quarters of the building she could see that someone had set up the majority of the wooden dummies all over the huge room._

_And there he was, just as she had thought, kicking away repeatedly at one of the dummies over and over again._

"_Three thousand four hundred seventy-seven! Three thousand four hundred seventy-eight! Three thousand four hundred seventy-nine! Three thousand four hundred eighty!…"_

_His back was to her, so he didn't see her walk in, and he was so absorbed with what he was doing that he didn't hear her come in, even after she had nearly tripped over some equipment that she remembered telling Naruto to pick up earlier that day. She was going to have to have a talk with him in the morning._

_She didn't know how long she watched him, she thought he reached five thousand before deciding to do ten thousand punches, "I will do ten thousand punches! And if I can't do that, I will not go to bed until I do five hundred laps around the Tree-house _with_ my weights on!"_

_Sakura couldn't help but giggle at that, no matter how much time had changed them and matured them, some things just never changed._

_Lee turned around, hearing the giggle and finally noticing Sakura's presence. "S-Sakura-chan!… I didn't realize you were awake! … is it already morning?"_

_Sakura couldn't remember when Lee had stopped calling her Sakura-san and started calling her Sakura-chan, but she did remember that she liked it when he referred to her that way. "No I think its around two a.m. now Lee-san." Sakura frowned, "Um… if I may ask, why are you still up? Shouldn't you be resting?"_

_Lee smiled, "I always do this Sakura-chan, ever since we first got here nearly four months ago. I've always stayed up to nearly three a.m. before going to bed. I must train hard if I wish to stay on even terms with Neji." _

_Sakura nearly fell over herself, "You… you do this _every_ night?" **How the hell does he have so much energy in the morning?** Sakura coughed lightly, the only person who matched up to Lee in abundance of energy was Naruto, and he slept like a log. "Lee-san you should really go to bed and stop staying up this late. After all we train for over eight hours a day six days a week."_

_Lee shook his head, his smile only growing more, "You don't understand do you Sakura-chan?" _

_Sakura nearly fell over herself again, Lee's voice had turned so soft, so serious… so sad. And he was still smiling genuinely. "What do you mean Lee-san?"_

_Lee sighed sadly, but kept smiling all the same, "You, Naruto, Neji, and even Tenten who focuses mostly on weapons, can perform ninjutsu. And all of you, even Naruto can perform genjutsu. I… I can't do any of those things. I never could, I could never mold my chakra with hand seals, I could not even activate simple scrolls or seals. My chakra simply doesn't work the way a normal ninja's would. And because of that I must focus completely on taijutsu. I do not have ninjutsu or genjutsu to accentuate my taijutsu like you do Sakura-chan. You have three different areas you must learn to become a great ninja, I… I only have one. And so I must work three times harder than the rest you if I am to be a great ninja."_

_His voice was so kind, so understanding. She had only heard Lee speak like this once before, and that was during her first chuunin exam so long ago. He had told her then in that soft and serious voice that **"The Lotus blooms twice. When we meet again Sakura-san, I promise I will be a stronger man."** She suddenly felt sorry for him, but also very confused. "But Lee-san, you are one of the best ninjas I know. You're understanding, energetic, determined, and… one of the strongest men I know."_

_Lee suddenly disappeared in a blur and was instantly standing in front of her. He apparently wasn't wearing his weights. It wasn't his sudden movement that made her step back, but the look in his eyes. They were so…_sad

_But before she could take that step back, he gently reached out and placed his hands on her shoulders. She didn't bother removing his hands, matter of fact she didn't find his closeness uncomfortable at all._

_She had never seen so much sadness in Lee's eyes before. "Thank you so much for saying that Sakura-chan. It means so much to me. But… I can't stop there. My ambition demands so much more, I may be a good ninja to many of my friends now, but I have something to prove to all of those who don't think someone like me should be a ninja. I will not… I **can** not stop until I am one of the best. You are the first person I have ever told this to, I haven't even told Gai-sensei yet, but… just as Naruto's dream is to be Hokage, my dream is to be the Captain of the ANBU guard. The personal body guard of the Hokage. I hope Naruto and I will achieve our dreams, for Naruto is a great man, one of the greatest that I know. And ever since I realized that, I knew in my heart that I wanted him to be the Hokage that I would protect with my life someday." Lee swallowed, apparently reluctant to say the next part, "You say I am **one** of the strongest men you know Sakura-chan. Well then, I will not stop until I **am **the strongest man you know."_

_Sakura felt the blush coming and could do nothing to stop it. She found herself burying her face into a shocked Lee's chest as she hugged him to hide the blush on her face. At least… that was her excuse._

_They had walked together back to their rooms that night, with an awkward goodnight to each other. From then on, any night Sakura found herself unable to sleep, she would walk to the dojo to watch Lee work on achieving his dream. _

_And in her heart she knew she would forever cheer him on in hopes he would achieve his goal.

* * *

_

She was crying she realized as her tears slowly fell from her soaked cheeks and onto Lee's peaceful face. How could he ever forgive her for what she had done to him? How could he ever forgive her for making his path harder? Would he really work as hard as she imagined and hoped he would, or… would he give up?

She could imagine her heart physically break at that thought. She could never forgive herself if that happened, and she would never want Lee to forgive her for her sin.

First she hadn't been able to save Sasuke, who in the end had to be killed by his best friend, and there was nothing she could've done about it. And now, she was hurting Lee, making his life more difficult. She knew ever since he had opened all eight gates that there was going to be trouble with his right arm. It was because of her he had done that, purposefuly sacrificing his life for hers, fully believing he would die. Who would've known that the very poison that was killing him anyway would save his life?

And then during the fight with the samurai he had to open his gates again for apparently the samurai knew how to do the forbidden technique as well. And she had not been strong enough then, if she had she would've been able to save his arm. If she had been strong enough she would've been able to fight on her own instead of Lee risking his life for her once again.

It was because of her that his arm had died… it was because of her that it was no longer there.

"Don't cry… Sakura-chan."

Sakura snapped open her eyes, afraid that he had woken up. But he was still asleep his eyes closed and a look of concerning wrinkling his face. "Don't cry… I will… protect… you…"

Sakura was barely able control her silent sobbing, even now, crippled and unconscious he still intended to protect her. Even now, as _she_ was the one watching over him, he still wished to keep her from harm. She had thought that in the three years Naruto had gone training with Jiraiya that she too had become strong. And even though she knew she was stronger, she still could never compare to Naruto or Neji, and especially Lee.

Especially Lee, for out of the three she saw him as the strongest in heart, enough to rival even Naruto.

"You _are_ the strongest man to me Lee-kun…" She couldn't stop crying now. She cried for the loss of the Tree-house, for the death of Sasuke, and for Lee's pain.

"How can you ever forgive me?" She cried until she could cry no more, and by then she had fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

Okay, okay, I know there was some Yaoi at the end of Orochimaru's chapter. But I've always though of Orochimaru as some superpowerful bisexual Narccisist. But thats just me, has anyone esle gotten that impression? 

Well, you know to tell you the truth, I might decide to do a lemon that involves Yaoi depending how many reviews I get that tell me to do it and how many I get that tell me not to. (I'm guessing most of the girls will want it, though some won't, while most of the guys won't want it while a few won't mind. But that's just my impression.)... hee hee hee, yes I'm doing this to get more reviews... Muahahahaha!

So give me your REVIEWS. AAAaaaaRRrrrrggHhhh! (bursts a vein and is now hemorraging... yaaay!)

**Chapter Preview!** Tender moments between the group, and how far will Lee show his forgiveness? Plus the beginning of the Trek through Earth country!

Note: This is an edit, For those of you who know a little about the Genesis seal, yes it does cause one to age as it regenerates, I know that. But you have to remember the potion Orochimaru took, it fused the immortality of his demon-fused soul with his body, allowing him not to age at all, even with the use of the Souseki Fuuin. Just felt I should clear that up... And yes, I meant for him to be this fucking powerful :-P Just wait until later in the story... just you wait...


	24. Rising Sun

Yes I know… this chapter took three weeks to get finished!… and not even that much happens in it. Sighs and sweat-drops I guess I could say I was exceptionally busy at work, with several people quitting within a week's time. So I got more hours at work… which is great since it meant I got more money… but not so great since it also meant I had less time to do things that I wanted to do. This fanfic was one of those things, and on the list of priorities it didn't list very high. So free time that I actually got was spent doing things I preferred not to do, or had to do, and then sleeping so I didn't pass out while flipping burgers with enough grease to give heart attacks after one bite.

Another problem was I had left this chapter unfinished (about 75 percent) for nearly two weeks. And then after I finally got some time to work on it again (my work has finally hired almost enough people to replace those that quit) I reread it and realized that I had done it poorly with not nearly enough detail that was needed. It was too rushed with not enough development. Not to mention I had been thinking a lot for the two weeks I wasn't able to work on it, and had a whole bunch of new ideas. So, I ended up retyping chapter 24 and renaming it. The events that were originally going to be in this chapter will be in the next two chapters.

Now I know some of you want lots and lots of action, while the rest want lots and lots of fluff. But you have to remember that this is a Romance _and_ an Action/Adventure story. I try to balance out the action and the fluff while still trying to tell the story and make it interesting for _all_ of you. I've heard things like how a lot of the elements of my story are extremely radical and different. Such as Hinata being a jinchuuriki, Orochimaru gaining a _huge_ boost in power. Naruto's Zenseigan, the role of Samurai in my story, and much, much more. But as different as my story is, it is still _my_ story. I tell it differently for I to wonder how it would turn out if things started out just a little differently and then evolved into something entirely different, yet still the same. That is what I hope to accomplish with this story and its sequel (yes its official, there's going to be a sequel).

Oh, and one more thing, other than I'm sorry I took so long on this chapter as well. I… have… reached…over…

…ONE THOUSAND REVIEWS!… thank you so much, to everyone who reviewed, especially **Kawaiisuzu** for my one thousandth review! Now that I have reached my initial goal, I must attain my second one, and that is to attain TWO THOUSAND REVIEWS! Muahahahaha!… I know… I'm insane…

Now, I know you've waited long, so no more waiting!

3nJoe-ee!

* * *

**Chapter 24: Rising Sun**

_She was dreaming…_

_Darkness surrounded her on all sides like a vast ocean of black ink. She was floating in this darkness. _

_She could see random flashes of light that were sporadic and seemed to be far away. _

_In these flashes she could see glimpses of what looked like pictures, but only sections of pictures._

_-flash- _

_Tufts of brown hair that blew in the wind, partially hiding the deepest brown eyes she had ever known, so brown they looked like liquid earth. Only Tenten possessed such beautiful hair and eyes. She thought she saw her carrying a massive sword that seemed to pulse with a dark green light. That green light frightened her for some reason. _

_-flash- _

_Angry eyes, that were the pure white of snow. The eyes of the Byakugan. Only Neji's could hold such anger, and yet such sadness at the same time. She was almost positive she saw him wearing armor and wielding two swords at once on some foggy battlefield. _

_-flash- _

_Eyes that were like blue crystal, or blue of the sky, or sometimes the deep blue of the ocean. Such expressive eyes could only belong to Naruto, the most expressive person she knew. Then the eyes changed, the pupils turning white and extending outwards into nine points, like a white star lost in the bluest of oceans. She thought she saw his eyes changing again, the white star swirling inwards. _

_-flash- _

_Soft eyes, filled with tears. They looked white at first, but were revealed as the palest of lavenders. Such caring eyes had to belong to Hinata, she always did care too much about everyone around her, or maybe she cared just enough. She couldn't see for a moment, the flash was so bright. But as it faded away there was a glimpse of Hinata wrapped in something white and alive. _

_-flash- _

_Dark and thick eyebrows. Eyebrows that made her giggle and feel light inside every time she saw them. She had always wanted to touch and pet those eyebrows, but that would've been too embarrassing… for both of them. He was missing an arm still, and that bit of knowledge made her heart feel as if it would die. Before the image faded, he was yelling and his skin had turned bright violet. She would've laughed at the color if it didn't look so frightening on him. _

_-flash- _

_She saw herself. Her light green eyes stared into identical light green eyes that were reflected like mirrors, so it seemed she was staring into an eternity of Spring. But it must have been just a reflection, for she was only surrounded by darkness. _

_As the image faded, she screamed as she saw herself being swallowed by that inky blackness, almost as if it were alive.

* * *

_

Sakura snapped awake, her heart pounding like a small frightened bird as the dream began to fade from her memory. She tried to cling on to those images she had seen, trying desperately to see what they could possibly mean. But it was like trying to grab water, the dream slipped through her fingers as if it were never there, leaving only a faint residue behind to let her know she had had a dream at all.

She shook her head violently, clearing the grogginess and wiped at her eyes to get rid of all the sleepiness that seemed to always form in your eyes as you slept. She looked around at her surroundings in attempt to remind herself of where she was.

She was inside an old barn, its rafters sailing over forty feet above her. There were holes in the roof where the early morning sunlight shot through like red hot blades, the light was an orangey red color, which meant the sun must have started rising only a few minutes ago.

A few feet to her right lay Neji and Tenten, curled in their sleeping bag, half-finished scrolls strewn about them in a near perfect circle. Sakura smiled, they must have found something more interesting than scroll-writing to do.

She then looked up and behind her. There in the rafters slept Naruto and Hinata, in the exact same position they had fallen asleep. Sitting up and holding each other in their arms, it was a beautiful sight seeing them like that; and it was made even more beautiful due to the sun rising right behind them. They were engulfed in a red halo of light, almost as if they were the ones giving off that light.

Sakura couldn't help smiling at that too, though both scenes of her friends sleeping peacefully with someone else made her chest feel tight. She frowned and beat down the loneliness as she had done so many times before. There were more important things right now than having to worry about her problems. Like protecting Naruto, the mission given to her over eight months ago.

She sighed then, feeling helpless. How could she protect Naruto from Itachi or Orochimaru when she couldn't protect him from samurai? She remembered fighting Okinara and how easily the samurai lord had beaten her. Apparently Naruto had been able to stand up to him and Inzo at the same time.

She sighed again and looked down at her lap. She frowned. There was something wrong with her lap, but she couldn't tell what. Inner Sakura began to yell at her again, _What d'ya mean there's something wrong? There's nothing wrong with your lap you idiot! There's nothing there! Its empty!_

Sakura's eyes widened as she gasped. Her lap was empty! Lee had been sleeping there, where was Lee? She stood up so quickly that she became dizzy, almost falling over, she had been in that same position for nearly six hours. She steadied her self, shaking her head from side to side, trying to get rid of the dizziness as quickly as possible.

Even then she was running for the opening in the barn where the doors used to be. She ran for all she was worth.

She had to find him, for he was all that she was worth.

* * *

Tenten shifted as if she would get up and follow Sakura, but found she couldn't move. Neji had tightened his arms around her as she tried to get up. She turned angry eyes on the man holding her in his arms. She hissed, so she wouldn't wake up Naruto and Hinata, "Neji! Let me go!" 

Neji opened his eyes then so that he was staring directly into hers. Tenten couldn't help it, she felt the air in her throat catch and she couldn't say anymore. That always happened when he looked at her like that.

Neji shook his head gently, "I think we should give both of them some alone time Tenten. Don't you think?" He smiled gently, "I think they both _need_ some alone time, with each other."

Tenten relaxed her muscles, no longer fighting to get free. She smiled gently, her eyes reflecting the worry she felt, "Do you think they'll be okay?"

Neji shrugged, "I don't know. But I think we should let them figure that out on their own." He pulled her closer so that her body was snuggled against his. "Lets sleep a little bit longer, we'll leave when they're ready to go."

Tenten merely nodded, as the warmth of Neji's body brought the peacefulness of sleep once again.

* * *

Sakura ran, fear propelling her forward. She stopped though once she got outside, and held a hand up to shield her eyes from the morning light. Her heart was beating a hundred miles an hour as the panic seemed to take over her body and mind. _What if he's hurt? I'll never forgive myself!_

She started running in a randomly chosen direction, it took her a moment to realize she was heading towards the rising sun and around to the back of the barn. She stopped halfway though, slowing to a walk. _What if… what if he ran away because of what I've done? Because of his arm?_ She felt her feet slow, then stop, frozen in place. Suddenly she no longer had the strength to stand and her knees buckled. She sat there kneeling as the tears began to stream down her face. How could she expect him to want to be around her after all? She was the one who had cut off his arm, she was the one who took away his ambition to be the best ninja ever. She looked around her, part of her still wanting to know if Lee was okay or not.

As the sun rose she saw a shadow stretch towards her. At first she thought it was a tree, but there was no branches or leaves. The shadow was in the form of a person. Sakura looked towards the rising sun, the only area she avoided looking at due to the blinding light. And sure enough, there he stood, a shadow surrounded in a halo of golden light, like some angel come down from heaven.

Sakura sprang to her feet, smiling and opened her mouth to call his name. Then she saw him reach up with his left hand to touch his right shoulder, where his arm used to be. She felt her voice catch in her throat, and her smile slipped away as if it never existed. She stopped running and instead approached Lee at a walk, careful not to disturb him.

He was standing on a hill crest, looking directly towards the rising sun as it peaked over the distant horizon. Sakura looked behind her a moment to see the sun illuminating the thin line of a distant mountain range to the west. She remembered being little and seeing those mountains, wondering what lay beyond them. They made up the western borders of the Wind and Earth countries. She turned back towards Lee and climbed up the hill slowly, slipping once on some loose rocks, until she was standing behind and little to the side of Lee.

She didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say to him. If there was anything she _could_ say. His body was the only way he could prove his way of the ninja to the world, and she had mutilated it. Of course part of her screamed that she had to, Lee wouldn't of survived if she didn't amputate his arm. But that didn't stop the guilt from flowing over her and drowning her in its dark depths.

The circle of the sun had just cleared the horizon when Lee spoke, startling Sakura out of her thoughts. "Thank you, Sakura-san."

Sakura couldn't keep the frown off her face. He was thanking her? For what? Cutting of his arm and leaving him crippled? She didn't understand what was happening. She had expected accusations, anger, even yelling. But not this, not him _thanking_ her. It seemed an eternity before she could find her voice again. "W-why? Why are you thanking me Lee-kun? …how can you thank me?" She couldn't understand this, "Why the hell aren't you angry at me?"

Lee turned to her then with a look of such utter confusion, a look that brought back happy memories to Sakura and almost made her believe for moment that everything was back the to way it should be. Almost. "What do you mean 'why' Sakura-san? You saved my life. I would've died if you hadn't done such a brave thing."

Sakura took a step back, shaking her head. This wasn't how she had thought any of this was going to happen. "B-b-but… I… I _cut off your arm_, Lee-kun! How cand you thank me for something like that? A-aren't you the least bit angry at me?"

Lee laughed then, though it wasn't an entirely joyous laugh, it was more amused than anything else. "Me, angry at you? Again, Sakura-san, you saved my life. It is my fault that my arm was hurt so badly that it had to be removed. It was because of my carelessness that this happened."

Sakura didn't believe what she was hearing. "No Lee-kun." Sakura could feel tears welling up in her eyes again, and she had wanted so badly not to cry in front of him. Not now, not ever, so she hung her head and closed her eyes, as if that would keep him from seeing. "You weren't careless, you were brave. More brave than anyone else I know. You were protecting us all those times you used the gates, knowing that each time could be your last, whether you won or lost." It was difficult talking around the knot in her throat.

Lee frowned, worried, he hated to see Sakura-san cry over anything, especially him. He reached out with his hand as if to touch her, but it fell away, unseen, unknown. So it had been ever since they arrived at the tree-house.

Lee had tried so many times to work up his courage to finally catch Sakura alone and seriously confess his love for her. He had always imagined something grand and chivalric, something Gai-sensei would've been proud of. But during the past few months spent at the tree-house he had lost such childish views. He would always revere his sensei as the greatest ninja ever, but he was not the same person as Gai, he never would be. Sure they shared the same characteristics, the same drive to do their best, the same work ethic that one can be a genius of hard work, and of course they had the same thick eyebrows. But he was not Gai, he was only like him in so many ways. It was strange that he had only realized these things after spending significant time away from his sensei, but it also made sense. By not being around his sensei and not always looking towards him for guidance, he was able to devise solutions for himself instead of always feeling the need to ask for his sensei's input. He smirked at that thought, Gai would be proud when he learned that his pupil had finally become an independent individual.

And so he had decided to go about his own way of earning Sakura's heart. No matter how much she was in love with Sasuke-kun, he would not give up on her, he couldn't understand why she was the girl that meant the most to him; but ever since he first saw her he had felt this need to protect her, to be by her side at all times and to be her friend in anyway possible. He may not be able to win her heart, even with Sasuke passed away, he was sure her feelings for the dark-haired Uchiha would never change. But if he could be her friend, her confidant, the person she trusted most, then he would be able to live with that. He would be able to bear that.

He reached towards her with his left hand again, this time completing the motion. His fingers brushed the skin of her cheek, making her jump involuntarily. He took it the wrong way and began to withdraw his hand.

Sakura saw the hurt look in his eyes before he was able to hide it. She grabbed his hand on impulse and pressed it to her cheek. Lee's face registered a look of surprise, but then he stepped forward. He used his thumb to wipe away the tears that just wouldn't seem to stop, the movement caused her to blush, and when she realized just how close they were standing the heat spread down her neck and into her shirt. The only time she had been this close to Lee was during battle or when she was healing him.

The look in Lee's eyes were full of sorrow and worry. "I know why you think I should be angry with you, Sakura-san." He shook his head a little, smiling a sad half-smile, "But I could never be angry with you. Never. This…" Lee nodded his head towards his right shoulder, "This only means that I have to train harder. I will miss my arm, don't get me wrong, I would prefer to have it. But it was I who did this to myself, you were just there to make sure I didn't die from my mistakes."

Sakura couldn't keep the sobs out of her voice, "But… it will be so hard for you now…" She shook her head gently from side to side, as if to get rid of the never ending tears. "I'm so sorry Lee-kun! I'm so sorry…"

Sakura found her self being pulled into Lee's embrace. She stiffened at first, she had never really touched Lee like this before, but the sorrow was overwhelming. She collapsed against him, sobbing uncontrollably, and here she was thinking she could sob no more after last night.

Here he was, a man who she had hurt to protect, and he was _still_ protecting her, still willing to give his life for her. She had no doubt that in that moment if they were attacked by Itachi or Orochimaru, or any of the people hunting them down, Lee would sacrifice his life for her once again. Just as he had at the tree-house, fighting the beast that reminded her of a hell hound. Just as he had at Bushi, a mere day past when he had risked his life not only to protect her, but all of his friends.

She realized then, that till his dieing breath… he would protect everything he loved, his friends, his home, and most of all… her.

"You are the strongest man I know, Lee-kun…"

Lee frowned, wondering, she had stopped sobbing and had just whispered something against his chest, he thought he had heard his name. "Did you say something Sakura-san? Is something wrong?"

Sakura hid her smile against that muscled chest, even now, as they shared this moment together, a moment of broken and healing hearts, he was worried about her. She came to the conclusion then that Lee's embrace was the best place in the world, and the safest on top of that. She looked up at Lee so she could see his face, and was startled at how close their faces were. She had never been this close to Lee's face, not like this.

She noticed now, the things she had never noticed before. His eyes were no longer the perfect round orbs that he had during his youth, but more mature, more adult, though he still had those goofy thick eyelashes of his. His eyebrows had stayed the same, and she hoped they would never change, they defined Lee as Lee more than anything else physically about him. His hair was still in that goofy bowl cut that Gai-sensei was so fond of, but eight months without a barber of any sort and traveling through the wilderness had given it a sort of wild look. It was beginning to curl from lack of being brushed, and she couldn't help but wonder what his hair would look like naturally if he didn't straighten it all the time.

She realized that she had been staring at him and smiling at the same time. She expected a confused comment of what she was doing exactly, but Lee said nothing, he merely looked at her and mirrored her smile. She had to wonder what about her was making him smile. "Why… why are you smiling, Lee-kun?"

Lee gave a surprised look, then blushed and averted his eyes, "S-sorry, Sakura-san." He apparently thought she was upset with his staring.

She reached up and cupped his cheek, turning him so that he could face her, "No, I really want to know. Why are you smiling?" She smiled sheepishly, she knew it was selfish of her to ask such a question, but she just couldn't control her curiosity all of a sudden.

Lee stared at her, surprised that she wasn't upset with him staring at her in the first place. "I…" He thought about lying to save himself, but he felt that this was a moment to tell the truth for some reason. "I was just thinking how beautiful you look Sakura-san. How beautiful your eyes are, and how they remind me of Spring."

Sakura felt her heartbeat jump up in speed. This wasn't the same as nearly four years ago, when Lee would brazenly declare his love for her the same way he declared his love for squirrels and other cute furry things. This was much, much different. She couldn't help it, her heart was racing, her breathing had deepened, how could such a tone of voice make her feel this way? How…?

She realized suddenly what had happened. When they were younger, Lee's love for her was the same as his love for most other things, such as his being a ninja, his sensei and of course squirrels. He would say she was beautiful and that he loved her, and he would mean it, but it was childish and light-hearted, just as he was about everything around him. But Lee's love had never gone away, instead it had changed, it had evolved into something deeper. Something more real. She already had known that if she ever needed someone, she could depend on him, because that's just the way he was. But now, she knew that if she really needed someone for more than just comfort and protection, he would be there waiting for her. Just as he had always been waiting.

She didn't think as she moved, she couldn't think, not with her heart pounding and her brain trying to make sense of what was happening to her, but she didn't resist it either. She kept her hand on the side of Lee's face and she had to stand on tip-toe to reach him, but her lips found his nonetheless.

She felt him sigh, and his entire body relaxed from a tension she hadn't noticed before. He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her up to him, she could feel such amazing strength in that arm. Strength that, if he wanted to, could snap her in half in a blink of an eye, or, if he wanted to… protect her from everything and anyone. She had always wanted to be stronger, strong enough to protect her friends who always seemed to be protecting her. But in this moment, as the heat between them passed back and forth through their lips, she didn't think she'd mind being the one protected… just this once.

She couldn't stop it, she felt that they should've broken off then, but she was lost in the swirling sensations he was giving her. She was so _aware_ all of a sudden. She could feel her heart beat against his, two opposite rhythms, together making their own unique music. She could feel his breath and taste it at the same time, and she could feel his hand on the small of her back as he held her to him. His skin was soft, with a faint amount of bristles, Lee had to begin shaving his face about three months after they arrived at the tree-house; luckily Neji shaved and was able to teach Lee and lend him his razors. She smiled into their kiss making him smile. She knew then that she loved that smile, even if it did do that goofy sparkle.

She pressed her body fully against his, wrapping her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened and became something more.

So much more.

* * *

Naruto felt something warm and soft shift against his cheek as he began to wake from his dreams. He yawned, and gently pulled away from the soft warmth so that he could see it better. 

Through sleepy eyes he could still tell who it was. He smiled, Hinata was snuggled against his shoulder, and apparently she was waking up, for she kept burying her face into him and frowning prettily. Naruto had no word to describe it other than cute.

That's when he realized they were sitting up and not laying down as he had originally thought. "Gah!" He felt a wave of dizziness overwhelm him and he fell backwards, landing heavily on his back with Hinata on top of him.

Hinata woke up with a yelp at the sudden movement. She pushed herself up, supporting herself with her arms, and looked around with startled eyes. Her face suddenly cracked into a smile and began to giggle uncontrollably. "D-did we sleep like that the entire night?"

Naruto gave a confused look, his eyebrows scrunching up in a frown, until he realized what Hinata was talking about. They had fallen asleep sitting up and had stayed that way the entire night. He joined in with the laughter, his eyes closed and his mouth open as deep belly laughs rolled off of him. It took a couple moments before they were calmed down enough to talk. Remembering why they had fallen asleep like that helped sober himself up. They had been discussing Kyuubi 'waking' up, and about the corrupted chakra in his right forearm, chakra that had been left over from Sasuke before he had dealt the death blow.

He smiled warmly at Hinata's still flushed and shining face, "Thank you… you know for understanding and everything."

Hinata smiled gently and brought her face closer to his so she could rub her nose against his in a classic 'eskimo-kiss'. "I don't think I'd be able to misunderstand you Naruto-kun." She sighed, feeling the warm press of his body against hers as she lay on top of him, "I love you… so much." She felt the warmth spread throughout her body and into her very finger-tips. Would she _ever_ get tired of saying those words? She hoped not.

He rubbed his nose against hers, "I love you more."

She grinned "Nah-uh! I love _you_ more."

Naruto couldn't keep the fox-like grin off his face, "I love you a hundred times more!"

Hinata picked up the game until they were into the 'loving you an infinite plus one' more. They were interrupted by a deep coughing coming from below them. Naruto and Hinata crawled to the edge of the hayloft to see what was going on in the lower section of the barn.

Neji and Tenten stood, fully dressed in the new clothes they had 'borrowed' from the stores in Bushi. Tenten wore a shirt much like the one she had usually worn, but this one was green and cut short so that it showed of her defined abdomen. She wore light gray cargo-pants that were cut half-way down the shin, there was an innumerable amount of loops where she had shoved scrolls into, the pants were apparently made for someone who liked to use scrolls. She wore black boots that nearly came up to her knees so that she had tuck her pants into the top of the boots, causing the pants to puff out slightly, the boots were leather with lots of straps and metal buckles. Over it all she wore a brown overcoat that came to the top of her boots and was lined with white fur on the edges.

Naruto was surprised to see Tenten wasn't wearing her hair in her customary buns, but instead was wearing her hair in two braids that ran down both sides of her chest to nearly her stomach. Naruto had never guessed there was so much hair in those two buns.

Neji was wearing a new wardrobe as well. He wore baggy martial arts pants that were white with black flames crawling up the legs, the pants were cinched at the ankles with bungee-cords and tied at the waist with a black belt with white flames crawling up the tips. He wore a black tank-top that revealed the long-sleeved fishnet shirt that he wore underneath, its sleeves covered his hands like fingerless gloves. He wore an identical overcoat to Tenten's though it was black leather instead of brown. He wore the same Konoha sandals he always seemed to wear and his hair was worn down as usual with single thin braid that trailed down the side of his face. Neji had apparently been the one who had coughed and interrupted Naruto's and Hinata's playing.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "What do you want? Me and Hinata were busy if you don't mind." He purposefully flung his arm around Hinata's shoulders to prove his point. Hinata blushed and giggled at the playful tone in Naruto's voice. He narrowed his eyes further, his face taking on a cynical look as he noticed the clothes they were wearing. "What's up with the new threads? And the coats, why are you wearing fur-lined coats? It's a little warm don't you think?"

Neji pinched the brow of his nose with his fingers and shook his head from side to side. Even now, after so many years of knowing him, Naruto only ever seemed to think deeply on things in the middle of a fight. "Brother… you may not remember this, but _we_, as in you me Tenten, Hinata, Lee and Sakura, are heading _North_. Usually as you head north it tends to get colder. And you may not remember this, but its September. September is when autumn begins, autumn is when it starts to get cold." Neji sighed, "We're used to living in a place where we never have true winter. The leaves change color on the trees during our fall and 'winter' seasons, but we rarely ever get snow. So when you came back from your training with Jiraiya-sama and while we were at the tree-house, we didn't have to worry about cold whether." Neji held up the fur-lined black coat that he wore, "Hence the coats. Where we are going, its going to get cold."

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Yeah, I guess it was hard to keep track of the seasons. It was always like summer and spring at the tree-house."

Neji shook his head, the denseness of his brother still appalled him to this day. "Get down here Naruto and get changed. We're leaving once Sakura and Lee get back and change as well."

Naruto jumped down from the loft to land lightly on his feet and turned around to look up at Hinata. He held out his arms as if to give a hug, "C'mon! I'll catch you!"

Hinata smiled, apparently all he needed was to get out his feelings last night, and now he was close to being back to his old self again. She stood up, closed her eyes and jumped, if Naruto didn't catch her, she'd land on her back. She wasn't surprised when she softly landed in a pair of well-muscled arms, she trusted Naruto more than anything else in the world. She opened her eyes to see him grinning widely down at her, flashing white teeth. He spun her around once, causing her to squeal before he set her on her feet.

Neji raised an eyebrow, "You seem to be in better spirits."

Naruto squinted at Neji, "Yeah, of course I'd be in better spirits if I had enough energy for… _other_ activities last night." Naruto looked at both Tenten and Neji, giving them a suggestive smile. "You know I thought I dreamed all that noise last night. I swear there must have been some light moaning and heavy breathing going on."

Tenten turned her back to hide the blush as she knelt and began to hurriedly pack the rest of their gear. Neji blushed as well, though his was a little more under control, he looked away from Naruto and his knowing grin and coughed lightly, "Just get your ass changed."

Hinata stood behind Naruto and hid her own blush. She thought she had heard some _activities_ in her sleep as well, though she didn't think she could've been as bold as Tenten and done something like that with people sleeping only a few feet away.

Naruto couldn't stop himself from laughing outright. He bent over double from the force of his laughing and slapped his knee as if to get rid of some of the laugh. "Oh man! The looks on your faces are priceless!"

Naruto had to stop laughing or suffocate as Tenten threw clothes in his face. "Put those on."

Naruto pouted, sticking out his lower lip, though the hint of a grin still remained on his face. "Oh, fine you party poopers." He opened the black robe he was wearing and tossed it to Tenten and then purposefully marched up the ladder to the hayloft so he could change.

Hinata took her change of clothes from Tenten, both girls giggled when they saw that they were both blushing still from Naruto's earlier comments. She then followed Naruto up the ladder to change with him.

As Naruto changed out of site of Neji and Tenten, Naruto called down to them from the hayloft. "So I guess we are using the new clothes for disguise right? Less chance of being recognized, and I guess that means no wearing our forehead protectors either huh?"

Neji nodded, though Naruto couldn't see him, "Yes, your right. And no, no forehead protectors. We can't legally enter another country that has a ninja village unless we have border passes, or we've been hired by someone from the country with enough authority to do so. Other wise, its an encroachment on their territory and can technically be used as a grounds for war. Though allied nations will usually pass it off as a mere misunderstanding, Leaf and Rock have never been friendly. Matter of fact they were our main enemies during the war, and so the Fire and Earth countries are pretty old enemies that are just looking for an excuse to start a war. So nothing can be worn that would reveal us as ninjas of Konoha."

Naruto was in agreement, "Gotcha bro." He threw his and Hinata's forehead protectors over the edge of the Hayloft, where they landed in one of the hay bundles so Neji could grab them and put them in the respective survival packs.

Naruto called out to Neji and Tenten again, "So, uh, where are Lee and Sakura?"

Hinata piped up as well, "Yes, where are they? I've been wondering that ever since I woke up. At first I thought something was wrong, but Tenten and you seemed to be calm about their absence"

Naruto grinned evilly at Hinata, but talked over the hayloft to Neji, "They didn't stay up last night and decide to take a page out of Tenten's and your book, did they? Though I guess they preferred to do their thing private unlike you two." Naruto smiled when he heard Neji cough again.

Neji rolled his eyes at the sarcastic comment, "I don't know what they're doing, brother. But I did feel that they needed to do some talking this morning."

Naruto was quite for a moment, suddenly somber, "Yeah, I guess your right. They both probably got a lot on their minds right now." Hinata nodded in agreement and went over to give Naruto a hug, though they were both in various states of undress.

The rest of the time changing was spent in silence as Naruto and Hinata changed out of the robes they had worn while staying at the Hyata clan house. Naruto suddenly yelled, "Tenten! What the _hell_ did you pick out for me?" Naruto appeared over the edge of the hayloft and jumped down to the floor, his orange trench coat settling slowly around him.

Tenten grinned, "I thought it would be perfect for you."

Naruto stood, revealing to Neji what he was wearing. He wore the same orange pants he had worn when he was younger, though they were larger, came down to his ankles, and they had black knee pads sewn into the fabric. He wore a black t-shirt with a white nine-pointed star on the front, sandals like Neji, and he wore black fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back of the knuckles. What Naruto was bitching about was his coat, it was a long and came down to his ankles, he had the sleeves rolled up to the elbow so the black gloves were more apparent, but most of all the entire coat was orange. Naruto liked orange, but an entire leather trench coat that had been died orange was a little too much. At least the coat had a white nine-pointed star on the back that matched his shirt and there was a black flame design that lined the bottom edge of the coat.

Tenten frowned, "I'd thought you'd like it, it was the only one with the flame design and the star on the back. I figured the flame design looked like the same thing your older brother wore, though different colors."

Naruto gave a surprised look and held up the edge of his coat so he could take a closer look at the design. He had seen pictures of his older brother, the Yondaime, and he was almost never without his white trench coat and its red flame design that lined the bottom edge. Naruto smiled as he looked at his clothes, "Thanks Tenten, that means a lot to me." Though he had to wonder how long Tenten had spent 'shopping' for clothes when she and Neji went back to Bushi to retrieve supplies. Because everything they were wearing seemed to be color coded for each person. He wisely kept his mouth shut, deciding it was better not to question Tenten.

Tenten smiled and walked over to Naruto to put something on his head, though she had to stand on tiptoe. When she stepped back a pair of sleek snowboard goggles adorned his forehead, holding back his blonde hair from covering half his face. "There, you look better with something holding back your hair, and since you seemed to like goggles when you were younger I picked you up these."

Naruto posed, putting his hands on his hips and giving his widest smile. "Beware evildoers! I, Kyuubi Man, am here to save the day!" Neji rolled his eyes as Tenten shook her head as she would towards a child making a fool of himself.

Kyuubi wasn't impressed either, **You're an idiot. Matter of fact you're the stupidest host I could ever be apart of.** Naruto ignored the comment brilliantly.

Hinata soon joined them afterwards. Naruto could only stare at what she was wearing. He had already seen her completely undressed, but the out fit she was wearing seemed to make her more suggestive than standing completely nude could've. Hinata blushed at the appraising stare from Naruto, the surprised look Neji gave her before suddenly finding a spot on the floor rather interesting, and the wide grin Tenten gave her.

Tenten had definitely color coded everyone. Hinata wore black capris with a white skirt worn over them that came to about mid-thigh, black boots, much like Tenten's, covered the lower half of her shins. She wore a white tube-top that exposed most of her stomach and would've bared her shoulders if she weren't wearing the pure white trench coat. The coat matched Naruto's in everyway, except color, it was leather dyed pure white with a lavender tear drop decorating the back. Like Naruto she also wore gloves and goggles, though her gloves were white and she wore her goggles around her neck. Hinata couldn't seem to make herself stop blushing.

Naruto shook his head, he had to ask. "Okay, one, do you really think these clothes will keep us warm enough during a snow storm, and two, how long did you spend _borrowing_ these clothes, Tenten? I mean, we're all almost perfectly color-coded to our clothes. How the hell did Bushi have all these?"

Tenten stood up and smiled, "They didn't" At the confused looks from Naruto and Hinata Tenten explained what she meant, "Most kunoichis have to learn certain jutsus that men don't in order to go undercover as a women. Some of those jutsus allow us to permanently change the color of objects such as flowers, clothing, or even hair and eyes, though body parts are a lot more difficult. We're also able to make designs with the colors, you know if the time called for something like that or even just for fun. So, I did some altering to all of our clothes to fit our personalities better." Tenten crossed her arms over her chest, "Is that okay?"

Naruto and Neji quickly put up there hands in defense, "No, no, no its perfectly fine!" Hinata merely nodded her head thoughtfully, remembering some of the things they were taught in the all girl shinobi classes.

"Wow! Where did the new outfits come from!"

Everyone turned to see Lee and Sakura come into the barn to join them. Naruto winced at the bandages covering Lee's shoulder. Lee noticed and walked up to Naruto, placing his hand the blonde's shoulder, he was the only one as tall as Naruto. "Do not worry my friend. This is my mistake and no one else's, I will have to live with this. And besides, if I lost one limb, that just means I have to work ten times as hard!"

Lee clapped Naruto's shoulder, making the blonde smile and wince at the same time. He was glad to see that Lee would be his normal self after all, he wondered then why he ever thought Lee would be down because he lost his arm. When he had fought Gaara during their first chuunin exam, he had almost died, and even though he lived, many believed he would have to give up his dream of being a ninja. Even then, he had worked hard, sneaking out of the hospital so he could train and taking on a surgery that would either kill him or allow him to be a shinobi again. Naruto grinned at his friend and partial brother, "Good to see you back, Fuzzy-brows!" Both of them were suddenly doubled over with laughing.

After his laughing fit, Tenten shoved a pile of clothes into Lee's arms. "Put these on, we all get new wardrobes today." She then walked over and put the other pile of clothes in Sakura's arms. "Okay, you two go change so that we can get the hell out of here!"

Sakura and Lee headed for the ladder at the same time. Lee suddenly stopped and held out his arm for Sakura to go change in the hayloft first. Sakura smiled at him and blushed at the same time, nearly slipping on the first rung of the ladder. Naruto couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable they were acting around each other. When they had come in, they stood closer to each other than normal, but wouldn't even look at each other. He grinned wide, he and Neji were going to have to get Lee alone sometime so they could politely _question_ him on what had happened that morning. He wondered if Tenten and Hinata would be asking Sakura the same things.

It only took a few minutes for both of them to change and present themselves before everybody.

Sakura wore a black tank top and white form-fitting pants with a pink skirt, and black gloves much like Naruto's and Hinata's. Naruto noticed a pattern with the shoes that the girls wore. Apparently Tenten liked knee high boots with lots of leather straps and metal buckles. Sakura's coat was just as long as everyone else's, but pink. It looked like her old shirt that she used to wear all the time, but lengthened so it came down to her ankles and it had kimono-like sleeves, apparently meant for the cold weather ahead.

Lee seemed to have changed the most in appearance. He gazed at himself just as much as everybody else, with a determined look in his eyes. He looked up at everyone, "I am a jounin, I have to stop acting like I am student and be my own person." That's all he seemed to have to say, for everyone understood instantly. Lee had reached a turning point in his life, and he was now going to be his own man, and he was showing that with the new attire that Tenten had gotten him. Though he was sure he was going to miss the green spandex and orange leg-warmers.

Lee, his hand and arm were bandaged as it always was, and he wore the same leather sandals that Naruto and Neji wore, but there the similarities stopped. His pants were baggy like Naruto's, but a deep green color, and he wore a matching muscle-shirt. He wore a trench coat like Naruto and Hinata, but his was such a dark green that it was nearly black. The left sleeve was rolled up to reveal the chakra storing bandages that his sensei had made for him. Naruto had lost the pair he had given to Hinata when the tree-house burned down. Lee's coat didn't have a sleeve for the right arm since Lee didn't possess a right arm anymore. Instead there was a metal shoulder-pad that covered his right collar-bone and shoulder, it was smooth and non-reflective, it had a strap that came down and under his left arm-pit and around his back, it apparently helped keep the coat on and protected an area he wouldn't be able to defend with an arm. The biggest change though was not his clothes, but his hair. He had wetted it, and then dried it with a simple jutsu so that it dried naturally, without all the straightening he always did. It came down on each side of his face in waves and then curled up at the tips, making his face look less bold and yet fiercer at the same time.

Sakura could feel her heart race at the new look Lee had adopted. He looked so handsome and natural, like this was what he was supposed to look like all along.

Naruto grinned and stepped in the middle of their circle so everyone was paying attention to him, "Well, thanks to Tenten and Neji, we're prepared for any weather and any situation. At least I think so. We've talked, and Neji told us about what Inzo said before he died." He gave sympathetic look to Neji, he had never seen the man so close to tears before when he told them last night about what he had to do when Inzo had asked him to kill him. "Though the old man helped betray us, I don't think he really wanted to. He tried to help us in the end after all, so I think he was telling the truth when he said the other samurai tribes are our safest bet."

Sakura spoke up, "I think so to, but how do we know these samurai are any better than the Dragon clan? Or that they won't kill us right after we get over the Northern mountains?"

Neji stepped forward and stuck his arm out. He was holding both of Inzo's swords that he had given him. "These will make sure that they don't kill us right away. Their swords mean a lot to samurai if I remember correctly, and I think Inzo meant me to carry on his way of the samurai when he gave these to me and told me where to find the other clans. I… think the other samurai will understand that when they see these." Neji looked at the floor suddenly, "And… and I trusted him. I don't think Inzo would be one to lie about the other samurai. He was just following the orders of a corrupt leader that he realized was wrong anyway. I say we go north… through Earth country."

Tenten stepped forward almost immediately and put her hand on Neji's outstretched one, giving him such a look of utter adoration that he couldn't stop from smiling just a little. "I say we head north to."

Naruto grinned, "Bout' time someone agrees with me. North for me."

Hinata reached out slowly, resting her hand on top of Naruto's and then squeezing it gently, making them both smile. "North."

Lee and Sakura reached out nearly at the same time, resting their hands on top of the others. Sakura sighed, "Though I know it's gonna be dangerous going through Earth country illegally, I guess I can't argue, north it is then."

Lee smiled, a light was in his eyes that had nearly disappeared after the destruction of the tree-house a week ago. He was feeling good about this, he _would_ prove his ninja way to the world, and he would go to the ends of the earth to do it, just as long as his friends, his family and the people he loved were there with him. As long as they were there… as long as _she _was there, he could do anything. Anything.

His smile changed to a grin to match Naruto's. "North it is then."

* * *

Yes… I know. Not a whole lot happens in this chapter, and it wasn't even a cliffhanger at the end… so unlike me, don't you think? 

But this chapter was required, after all, without my explanatory chapters, you'd all be left in the dust with your heads spinning. So personally I think I should be thanked to type such boring stuff (just cause its my story, there are some parts I'd prefer to skip, though I can't. You need to bridge the chapters together, if you don't a story seems random and confusing… and enough of my fanfic-guruness…)

Oh, I also got some reviews that told me not to put Rock Lee and Sakura together. All I have to do is laugh at that, for it is quite humorous if you look at my way. In my story, I have killed Sasuke… who else is Sakura going to be paired up with exactly?

Now I know some of you are diehard Sasuke/Sakura fans, while the rest of you think it should be Rock Lee who takes Sakura's heart, but the truth is, though I listen to your reviews for ideas that will please the masses, your opinions really don't matter if I don't want to change what I put into the story. I don't mean to sound harsh, but I do _not_ appreciate being _told_ what to do by people who have no idea what I plan on doing with this work… its _insulting_, not including the fact that it is _irritating_ beyond belief. I do not appreciate flaming unless its put into the positive manner of constructive criticism. For I myself do not flame _anyone's_ stories, no matter how bad they may be. I always try to leave a positive review or no review at all. If you do not like what you read then you have two choices that I can think of.

One) You can give me a suggestion to what you think may be better at pleasing everyone else, or would more likely stick to the universe that is Naruto.

Or Two) You can read something else.

But I do not like being told what to do by anybody. And I'm sure the rest of you feel the same way. I do not apply this to all of you, for most of you are very pleasant, and I absolutely love reading your reviews and seeing what you think of my work. But I do speak to those who find the audacity to openly criticize my work with disdain. I hope that none of you feel the urge to do that, but if you do… could you at least _try_ to be polite?

Now I know my author's comments are long, but hey, I'm making up for three weeks of silence here. My reasons for possibly pairing Sakura and Lee are simple… One) Lee has loved Sakura ever since he met her, Two) Sasuke is dead, Three) Sasuke ran away from Naruto and Sakura, and Lee has always been there, unshakable in his loyalty to those he cares about; and Four) and the most obvious, Lee and Sakura have been in close quarters in relative solitude for nearly nine months now. The point is, though Sakura loves Sasuke, in my opinion he was nowhere near the man that Lee is. And I know that Sakura considers Lee a friend, I can't help but think that, that feeling of friendship would blossom into so much more when faced with danger and all you have is each other. Sorry for all you Sasuke fans out there, but I hope you can still enjoy what I do with the story even if it isn't what you really hoped it would be.

Well, all I can do now is crawl to you all like the worthless worm that I am and beg… yes I said _beg_… for more reviews from you all (… unless of course you have nothing constructive or positive to say…lol)

**Chapter Preview!** Sneaking into Earth Country! What's it like, and how tough are Rock ninjas anyways? Will our heroes have their hands full this time? Find out in the next exciting edition to the Person I admire!


	25. Earth Country Dead Country

WOW! Wow wow wow and WoW (as in World of Warcraft) random yeah. anyways i looked at the date on my last update on this and was like "HOLY SHIT!" an entire year has passed since last i updated. AN ENTIRE YEAR... but of course those of you always sending me emails and leaving reviews that say UPDATE YOU BASTARD probably already know that. Well, just to let you know i have finally found some time to do some of things that i _want_ to do. like drawing, reading fantasy novels, downloading things online and of course writing my stories. I'm going to be attempting to update more regularly now, but don't expect an update every week, more like every two weeks, every week if i'm lucky i suppose. I don't think i really need to explain my absence. I've already mentioned work and college before, and those of you who have a job and got to school at the same time can attest to the fact that its hard and leaves very little time to do the things you want, and sadly this fic is not at the very top of the things that i _have_ to do, though its definitely up there on the list of things that i _want_ to do.

Though I must admit, a year of idleness has given me some good from it. I now know full well how this story will end and how it will get to that ending, and i've planned a good portion out for the sequal, and for another fic that i will be starting here which has to deal with another anime.

well enough of my blabbering, for those of you who have been waiting, i apologize once again, and thank you for waiting. i'm sure those of you who have been looking forward to this are nearly rabid, i know i get like that with some of the fics i love.

So, without further ado, time to continue the story of the Person I admire! ENJOY!

* * *

**Chapter 25: Earth Country/ Dead Country**

"I miss my guitar… and my speakers. And I miss my room to, with that cozy bed me and Hinata shared…" Naruto looked over at Hinata in mid-leap, just in time to see her blush.

Sakura frowned, following behind Naruto, "Will you shut up Naruto!? We've been listening to you complain about not having the tree-house anymore for the past hour!"

Lee landed on a branch then leapt forward to the next, soon they'd run out of trees and have to travel on the ground, and it had been starting to get hilly. "I miss the gym as well, and the squirrels that used to come into my room."

Lee got a glare from Sakura who was five feet to his right, "Don't encourage him Lee!"

Naruto looked back and grinned widely at Lee and Sakura, "Hell yeah man! And the zip-lines, those were the best way to travel!" He glared at the surrounding trees and hills, "A hell of a lot better than traveling like this."

Sakura threw her hands up in exasperation, just in time to land on her hands and flip forward to the next branch. "I give up! No one is listening to me!"

Hinata looked back at Sakura; she was in front of Lee and to Naruto's left. "I'm listening to you Sakura-san, though I _do_ miss those baths."

Sakura sighed and grinned, "Yeah, those baths were pretty spectacular weren't they?" Hinata smiled in agreement. Sakura stopped fighting it and joined in Naruto's banter about the tree-house. Strangely, talking about it didn't hurt as much as she thought it would. Matter of fact, it made her feel better, like talking about it didn't bring back bad memories, but instead brought back only happy ones.

Neji spoke up from the back. He was taking up the rear behind Tenten who was behind Lee and Sakura. "I to miss the gym. It had everything anyone would need to train."

Tenten pouted, "I miss the loads and loads of weapons."

Naruto turned around in mid-flip and gave her a look, "Don't you have your stupid weapon scrolls finished?"

Tenten rolled her eyes, "I had only enough time to finish three of them. I got seventeen more to write up."

Naruto nearly stumbled, "Seventeen! Jeez, you don't pack lightly do you?"

Tenten was about to say something mean, but Neji interrupted. "The border to Earth country is only half a mile ahead."

The group was suddenly swallowed by silence, the only sound was the soft thud as each person landed on a branch then silently leapt to the next. Everything was a blur of oranges, yellows, reds and browns as the autumn leaves gently fell around them.

Bushi had been on the borders of Fire country and one of the smaller neighboring countries that Naruto could never remember, Neji had said it was the Country of Hills or something like that. Naruto didn't doubt that it was a fitting name. They had been traveling all morning, and now it was late afternoon and they were nearly to the borders of Earth country. Naruto suddenly realized something and couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Hey Neji-niisan?"

Neji glared at Naruto for making noise, but couldn't stop from wondering what Naruto wanted to ask, "Yes?"

Naruto squinted his eyes and stuck out his lip slightly, making Hinata giggle, it was his classic thinking pose. "It only took us a few hours to cross one of the smaller countries right?"

Neji rolled his eyes, but answered, "Obviously."

Naruto thought in silence for a moment then spoke up, "Alright, lets see if I remember my geography correctly. The tree-house is west of Konoha right? And it took us two and half weeks to get there. Now Wind country is also west of Konoha, and farther than the tree-house, and if I remember what Iruka-sensei told me, it only takes three days of hard traveling to get to Suna, the Hidden Sand Village. So, uh… why the hell did it take us over two fucking weeks to get to the tree-house?"

Neji frowned at Naruto, trying to see if he was being serious. His Byakugan, able to read most emotions, told him that Naruto was being serious. "…uh, Jiraiya-sama had been purposefully taking detours and backtracking the entire way to the tree-house, so as to make it harder for our enemies to find us. I thought you knew that."

Naruto frowned, "Hell no I didn't know that! Did anyone else realize that?" He looked at Tenten who nodded, then Sakura who nodded as well. He then looked Lee and Hinata who both nodded in unison. Naruto felt as if a heavy stone had slammed into his stomach. "GAH! Am I the only one who didn't realize this?"

Neji sighed, Naruto was an idiot sometimes, he'd been getting better, but he still had his moments. "That's probably why it took so long for those hellhounds to find us, they had to track the scent of our chakra, and since we had taken a zigzag route to the tree-house, they had to follow the same path or lose the trail." He got strange looks from everyone around him, he merely shrugged, "Okinara, as much a bastard as he was, had an amazing library. I took the liberty to look up some information on those dog-monsters that attacked us. There wasn't much, but apparently they're called jigokinu, or hellhounds. They could track someone by the residue of their chakra and bodily energy that they left behind while traveling, and the book said that they absorbed chakra, exuded a poison that could destroy someone's soul and that they were nearly indestructible."

Lee snorted, "_I_ could have told you that. Did you see how much we had to do to just kill one of those damn things?"

Neji nodded in agreement, "There was more, apparently they were so difficult to destroy due to the fact they were merely animated bodies of sacrificed dogs that were embedded with a summoned demon spirit. It took nearly five hundred live human sacrifices plus the dog's to summon the demon and fuse it with the canine's body."

Naruto growled, his eyes flashed red and changed back to blue so quickly that Neji thought he imagined it. "Only that snake bastard Orochimaru would do something like that!" Naruto looked ahead, he was angry. Angry at the fact, that even though he had become stronger now, he knew, _knew,_ that he was still too weak to fight Orochimaru and survive. He remembered how difficult it was to kill those jigokinu, and if Orochimaru could create and control them so easily, then he still had a long ways to go before he could face the snake that had stolen Sasuke away from him. He _had _to become stronger!

He felt someone's eyes on him and turned to see Hinata staring at him with something close to worry in her expression. He felt the hot fires of anger slowly die down under the worried gaze those pale eyes directed towards him. He felt calm take the place of those fires, and could even feel presence in the back of his head that was Kyuubi calm down under that gaze. Hinata seemed to always know what to do to calm him down, whether it was hugging him, giving his temples a massage, or just looking into his eyes.

He reached out and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers as she squeezed his hand gently. He smiled reassuringly and squeezed back.

Neji's voice stole away the calm that had settled between them. "We're here."

* * *

Tsunade's temple was hurting. Probably due to the throbbing vein in her forehead. 

"I'm telling you Tsunade, that was the only path I _ever _took to and from the tree-house. It made it harder for anybody else to find it." Jiraiya was feeling a little panicky. Of course anyone would if one of the strongest women in the world was angry with you.

It had taken them nearly a week to get _to_ the tree-house when they had learned Sasuke was hunting Naruto down. But it had only taken them a day and a half to get back to Konoha at full speed. Jiriaya's reasoning was that when he had accidentally found the tree-house while wandering in the woods searching for inspiration on one of his books, he had back-tracked the path he had taken from Konoha so as to not allow anyone to track a direct route from Konoha to the tree-house. So in effect, the long way was the _only_ way Jiraiya had known on how to get to the tree-house; and of course it was also the only way Tsunade had known as well, though Jiraiya had failed to mention that it was not the shortest way.

"Jiraiya… you do know that I am going to kill you, or at least seriously hurt you now. Don't you?" Tsunade's voice was dangerously soft now. It was worse then her usual screaming and yelling.

Jiraiya gulped and nodded slowly, "Yes… I know." His voice was lightly squeaky from the built up panic. Tsuande was not only angry about not knowing that there could have been a short-cut to the tree-house, but because of that they had arrived too late to save Naruto and the others from fighting Sasuke and ultimately losing the tree-house. Oh, and of course the fact that even though Tsunade had asked about it when they first got back, Jiraiya had avoided her like the plague, until Tsunade had ordered him into her office five days later and demanded his explanation about their relatively short trip back to Konoha.

Jiraiya could hear death knocking on his door once again when he saw the rage in Tsuande's eyes.

And death could've claimed him then if it weren't for the divine intervention of one ninja.

Someone knocked on the office door, "Hokage-sama! Hatake Kakashi has returned from his mission and come to report to you directly!"

Jiraiya watched the anger die out of Tsunade's eyes, and he felt himself breathe again. He had been holding his breath without even realizing it.

Tsunade stood up abruptly, the anger in her body language had completely disappeared, replaced with eagerness, and Jiraiya noticed, a good amount of anxiety that she was trying to hide. Kakashi had been sent on a reconnaissance mission of the utmost importance. Kakashi had gone to Sound country to gather information on what Orochimaru was doing at the moment. They needed to know, if the Snake sannin was willing to allow Sasuke to hunt down and attack Naruto, then he may be willing to do more.

Tsunade actually gulped, there seemed to be a lump of nervousness stuck in the back of her throat and she couldn't get rid of it. "Let him in!"

The door opened to allow the silver-haired jounin into the room. Without asking he performed a jutsu that sealed the doorway and the walls so that no sound would escape the room. It was a complicated sound nullifying jutsu that required a scroll and several minutes to mold the chakra. The fact that he was using an ANBU ranked jutsu was not a good sign at all. When he stood up to face both of them Tsunade drew in her breath in a sharp hiss. Kakashi's forehead protector was not in its usual slanted position that hid his left eye. Instead he wore it normally, revealing the scarred eye and it's Sharingan. The stark contrast between his dark brown eye and his red eye was slightly disturbing to those not quite used to it.

But that was not why Tsunade had reacted the way she did, she was perfectly used to Kakashi's transplanted eye, it was the fact that he was revealing it out in the open. Kakashi only ever revealed the Sharingan when he was about to enter a fight, and more importantly when he was about to enter a fight he was not completely sure whether he'd survive or not.

"Kakashi? What is your report?" Tsunade silently congratulated herself that her voice sounded so steady, even though her entire body was tense, every muscle ready to spring into action as if she were expecting to be ambushed. Who knows? Maybe she was.

Kakashi bowed quickly, then straightened. He breathed in slowly, Jiraiya could already tell that none of them, not even Kakashi was going to like what he was about to say. "I… I have confirmed our worst fears Hokage-sama. Sound nation… they are actively preparing for war." Kakashi breathed in again, "And we are their target."

* * *

"Chouji-kun! Look, we're home! How about we stop by the Ichiraku for a bite to eat?" 

Chouji looked over at the shorter blond striding next to him. She was covered in dirt and scratches, and her wrist was bandaged. She looked strangely attractive with her hair not so perfect and her clothes torn as if she had walked through a field of rosebushes. Chouji shrugged, "Sure, I could always use some food."

Ino beamed at him, making him feel slightly confused. All he had done was agree to get a bite to eat with her, why was she so happy about that?

Shikamaru shook his head, Chouji's confused expression said it all. It was going to be awhile before he realized what Ino was doing, and by then it'd be to late for him. It made him think of a certain blond sand-nin which just made him smile while he stared at the clouds as they walked towards Konoha. It was crazy, but he was missing her already and it had only been last week that he was over in Sand.

Temari had finally confessed her feelings for him during the chuunin exam eight months ago. The same time Hinata had confessed her feelings for Naruto. Funny and slightly ironic at the same time. She had come to the chuunin exam two months ago as well, and they had spent… significant… time together. Ino wouldn't leave him alone about it, and apparently she and Temari had found a way to communicate over the distance between Konoha and Suna. Ino would give him an update on what Temari was doing everyday, since he was too lazy himself to bother sending letters and such, though she sent him at least two each week. It was all so troublesome, he saw her every week anyways, why did he have to know what was going on in her life everyday when he was going to hear it all again when he saw her?

His smile deepened. Though at the same time, even if he wouldn't admit it, he enjoyed listening to Ino's daily 'Temari Report'. He liked knowing what was going on with the girl's life, and he enjoyed listening to the same things all over again when they saw each other. There never was a whole lot of business to talk about, so they usually went out to eat, talked about what missions they did in the past week, then stayed the night over at the other's apartment, depending on what village they were in at the time. Nobody but themselves knew about that, though at times Shikamaru was sure from things Ino said that she had a pretty good idea.

And now all of a sudden he felt like writing a letter to her. He felt like going through the trouble of writing out a letter describing his week and how he was actually missing her.

What was that woman doing to him?

"What the hell are you grinning at? Did you find a cloud that looked like Temari-san or something?" Shikamaru jumped at the voice and turned his head to see Chouji grinning teasingly.

Ino punched Chouji's arm lightly, "Chouji don't tease him, he's apparently missing her." She was smiling as she said it though, "Or he's remembering something very pleasant about her." Her smile suddenly changed to match Chouji's identically. Shikamaru shook his head, arguing would be troublesome right now, all he wanted was to take a shower, sleep and dream of Temari.

His smile wilted around the edges a little, he knew the idle banter was to just give a lighter mood to the atmosphere. They had just returned from an assassination mission that had almost gone wrong due to the target being a missing-nin from the Hidden Grass thought to be dead. He and Chouji had fought the mass of bodyguards while Ino had gone on to fight the missing-nin alone. Luckily the target was only genin rank at best, and Ino, though surprised, didn't have a problem handling him after the initial attack. Hence her sprained wrist, the nin had used a jutsu that made roots entangle and crush opponents, he didn't have much control over it and was only able to grab hold of Ino's wrist before she realized what she was dealing with.

She used her Shintenshin no jutsu to take control of his body and had him slit his throat with his own kunai. She had left the body before it died from blood loss.

If she hadn't been fast enough and if the missing-nin wasn't so low in power level, the mission could've gone horribly wrong, it had shaken them a bit knowing what could've happened. Not only that, but assassinations were a grim thing, and none of the ninjas Shikamaru spent his time with enjoyed such missions. They were necessary and were the core of ninja training, but that didn't mean that because you were a ninja you had to enjoy taking life. It was because of these things they talked, not to make them feel better about themselves, or to lessen the pain of knowing you killed someone, but just to talk so you didn't end up talking about what just happened and had nightmares that would drive you insane.

After a bit the raw feeling would die down enough to where you could talk about such things without feeling sick about it, but until then it was best to talk about anything, anything at all; as long as you didn't fall silent long enough to think and then start thinking about what you just did, then you'd feel the need to talk about it, and that was a bad idea. Such was a ninja's life. Shikamaru grinned, but putting the grisly business of killing people aside, he wouldn't give up his chosen life for anything.

They were past the giant doors that made up the north gate of Konoha by now so Shikamaru veered off towards his apartment, leaving Chouji and Ino to head over to Ichiraku's. "You two have fun on your date, I'm going to go home sleep and then write up our report."

Chouji gave a confused look at Shikamaru's comment, but was quickly pulled away by an over-eager Ino. Shikamaru shook his head again, sometimes Chouji was almost as bad as Naruto.

He frowned as he walked down the crowded streets towards the less crowded Nara district, the neighborhood that made up his clan's home. He thought of Naruto and those with him. He hoped they were okay, it had been over eight months now, and he hadn't heard a word about them, and even though he and Kakashi were both jounins, he couldn't get a single word out of the older man. And Jiraiya was just as stubborn, he was too much like Naruto for his own good, or maybe it was the other way around. Likewise the Hokage refused to give up any information on Naruto's whereabouts and wellbeing.

He understood the reasons for not telling him, but he was still worried. Naruto was his friend, and as annoying as he was, he had only gotten to see him for a month before he had gone off to be hidden and protected by Sakura, Neji, Lee, Tenten and Hinata. Chouji, Ino, Shino and even Kiba had expressed their worries for Konoha's number one unpredictable ninja. Shikamaru suddenly chuckled, though Konohamaru, now a genin was making his own name in unpredictability.

Shikamaru felt a familiar itch in between his shoulders.

The kunai knife was out and in his hand faster than an eye could follow. He whirled around and set himself up in a defensive stance. All done in less than a fraction of a second. But, when he turned to face the supposed enemy he found nothing but empty air.

"Nara Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru turned around quickly, heart beating a hundred miles an hour. Behind him was standing a male ANBU member, complete with white arm guards and painted animal mask, this one looked like some sort of bird. _Jeez! The guy sneaks up on me and scares the living daylights out of me! _Shikamaru cleared his throat hastily, "Yes I am him. What is it? Does the Hokage wish to see me?"

The ANBU merely regarded Shikamaru for a moment behind the shadows of his mask's eye holes as if weighing his worth. "You were fast to react jounin, you could be an ANBU member I think if you put your mind to it."

Shikamaru made a dismissive gesture, "Too troublesome to take the test. Plus, you guys are always getting the S-rank missions that can get you killed easily, if you get any missions at all that is." He frowned momentarily at the ANBU, "Anyways, what the hell are you scaring the hell out of me for? Popping out of nowhere like that, without any warning at all? Now what is it that you want? If you want to recruit me, the answer is no."

The ANBU shrugged noncommittally, "Too bad, but I'm not here to train you. I'm here to deliver a message from the Hokage herself to you. Other ANBU members were sent to deliver the same message to your teammates Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji, and the leaf nin, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba. The Hokage is sending letters to the heads of each clan, but because of your unique position to the matter at hand she believed you and the others deserved a verbal message."

Shikamaru waited patiently, a message that would be heard by everyone in the village eventually from the Hokage herself, and he was going to hear it first hand because she thought he deserved it for some reason. It must be something important.

The ANBU looked at Shikamaru a moment more before continuing, "What I'm about to tell you will not be pretty. It upset me when I heard it as well." Though in truth the ANBU barely showed or talked with any emotion at all. "The Hokage is sorry to tell you that you your fellow leaf ninjas, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata, Rock Lee, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto… are dead. They died in battle against the forces of the hidden Sound Village. You, your friends and everyone in the village, even us ANBU, are invited to their funeral. It shall be held three days from now at five p.m." With that the ANBU jumped and disappeared in a blur of motion.

Shikamaru stared at nothing for awhile before he realized he was sitting on the ground holding his knees and trying his hardest to not scream. Naruto was dead. Hinata was dead. Neji. Lee. Sakura. Tenten. His comrades. His friends. They were all dead and he hadn't even gotten to give a proper goodbye when he last saw them. He wondered if Naruto had read his chess book at all, the one he gave him for his homecoming gift. Though he doubted it, Naruto was never the intellectual sort. Though if he was bored enough he might actually open it to stare at the pictures for a bit.

He knew that he was thinking of nonsense things, trying to keep himself from thinking about the things that were suddenly starting to eat him up inside. But it changed absolutely nothing. They were dead.

His friends were dead.

* * *

"He's already preparing for war." Tsunade couldn't keep the despair out of her voice. She and everyone else had been hoping Orochimaru wasn't going to start moving until later, when they were more prepared. But nothing ever happened the way you wanted it to, you just had to take it as it came to you and deal with it that way, or else get swallowed by it. Tsunade looked up at Kakashi. "Did you send the ANBU out to deliver my message when you got back?" 

Kakashi nodded, "I know you waited until I got back to make it look like it was part of my report… but do you think it will work? Do you think it will throw Orochimaru off and stop him from trying to hunt Naruto down? Or anyone else that doesn't know whether he's alive or not for that matter?"

Tsunade nodded, "I think it will, as long as the only people who know the truth are you, me and Jiraiya here. Orochimaru doesn't really know if Naruto is alive or not, at least I hope so. And when the news reaches his ears and every other idiot out there who's after Naruto for some reason or not, they may well believe it when we hold a 'funeral' for them. It's all we can do, Kakashi. It may be cruel to his their friends, but if we can give them a better chance we have to do it this way. No one knows but us, that way everyone believes."

Kakashi nodded, "You're right, though I do hate lying to everyone. But, it's for Naruto, and anything that gets some more hounds off his tail is a good a plan as any." Kakashi hesitated for a moment, "Though I wish we could do something about Itachi and Kisame following them."

Jiraiya sighed as he sat his chair backwards, resting his chin on his hands, "We can only hope that Itachi and Kisame are only there to observe and hope that Naruto and friends can lose them somehow before they decide to do something other than just watching." Jiraiya smiled briefly, "If anyone can lose Itachi in a chase, Naruto can."

Tsunade shared a small smile, though it was gone just as fast, "We can only hope. Kakashi, start the preparations for the funeral, we might as well get on with this." Tsunade stood clenching her fists briefly until they white-knuckled and then forcefully let her hands relax, "And as for Orochimaru preparing for war… we'll make the announcement the day after the funeral. Give everyone time now to mourn, and then we'll need to start preparing for the worst. We'll need to send messengers to Wind country and every country we've ever called an ally or owes us a favor…"

It would be nearly nighttime before they finished planning the fate of Konoha.

* * *

"Gods… I've never seen Earth country before… but man this is worse than Wind country and all that desert somehow." Naruto couldn't keep himself from staring east then west, then north again. The trees had just _ended_ at the border of Earth country, and the tree line stretched from horizon to horizon east and west. 

"Its dead… its all dead…" Hinata was holding her hand over her mouth, trying to keep herself from looking like she was trying to catch flies. As far as the eye could see there was barren rock. No grass, no animals, or birds, and there was hardly any bugs to be seen or heard, flies included.

Neji shook his head disbelievingly, "It shouldn't be like this, Earth country is a rocky desert, but it shouldn't be this… _barren_. Even Wind country has more life than this, you at least can see the occasional cactus, or desert grass or something… but this… my Byakugan doesn't see a single shred of life for as far as it can go. No animals, no insects, not even plants."

Naruto frowned, "I don't get it either, its midday, and not even hot here, and there's no life at all. Was it always like this? If not, then… what happened here?"

Neji shook his head again "I do not know brother, I do not know."

Lee strode forward and pointed in the general north direction, "That is our destination. We can't let something like this stop us or stand in our way. We're ninja after all, its not like water or food are going to be a problem. All we have to worry about are Rock ninja patrols, and your basic patrols of Earth country soldiers… though they'll be easier to deal with I think."

Everyone quickly nodded agreement, though Sakura was first to speak, "Well you heard Lee guys, lets get this train movin'!" and as one they leaped forward moving as quickly as possible while still keeping an eye out for Rock nins and any other signs of life.

It only took a few miles, but Neji spotted something and called a halt to the group. "Apparently Earth country is only dead in some areas, there's an oasis up ahead."

Naruto started to sprint forward, "Alright! Water and shade!" and was abruptly halted with an arm across his chest from Neji.

"Stop, Naruto. You always do that, brother, run head first into things without finding out more about it. Apparently Earth country uses oasis as guard-posts. There's a tree in the middle of that foliage. If it wasn't for my Byakugen I wouldn't have seen it was a guard tower." Neji frowned, concentrating his bloodlimit further, "There are… three Rock nins in the tower and… five patrolling the ground around the oasis."

Naruto squinted his eyes, "Your lucky having that Byakugen, I can't even see it from here… unless you're talking about that black speck in the distance. How big is it?"

Neji shrugged, "Eight, ten miles wide? That's my guess anyways."

Sakura frowned, then squinted her eyes and held up her hand to block the sun, then shook her head in disbelief, "Are you sure, I can't even see a black speck."

Tenten and Lee were doing the same thing, and were shaking their heads as well.

"I can see it." Hinata was also shading her eyes from the sun, but she wasn't squinting, "My Byakugen may be stronger than Neji's in some areas now, but I haven't trained it enough to reach as far as his. But with my demon eyes and my Byakugen I can definitely see that it's an oasis about twenty miles away."

Naruto's eyebrows raised up higher on his forehead as he regarded Neji, "Wow bro, didn't think all that training at the tree-house would give you're already eagle eyes super-eagle powers."

Neji grimaced momentarily at the stupid joke, "I didn't think so either. But I'm glad it did, from this distance we can easily skirt around them. Let's move out."

They all disappeared in a blur of motion, leaving nothing behind but kicked up dust.

* * *

Chouji had his arm around the sobbing Ino. He didn't know what to do but hold her. He didn't even know what to think, he felt that he needed to hold onto Ino as much as she needed his large chest to cry onto. Chouji was grinding his teeth audibly, it was hard trying not to cry when someone who was upset about the same things you were was sobbing so hard into your chest that there was only choking sounds coming out of her open mouth. 

Chouji felt his own throat choke up, no one should be upset to have suck sounds come out of their throat. Ino's open-mouthed sobs and whimpering were starting to get to him, but there was no way he was going to leave her like this. No way in Hell.

Shikamaru was sitting not too far away on his bed in his and Chouji's apartment room, staring at the wall and thinking. Or at least it seemed that way. In truth Nara Shikamaru was for the first time in his life lost for thoughts… if that were even possible. The images, the memories flashing through his head were not real thoughts, just remembrances coming of their own accord.

_Sakura, suddenly turning furious at one of Naruto's stupid comments or at acting the pervert and slamming his face into the ground._

_Hinata, stuttering and playing with her fingers as she tried to ask Naruto out for a bowel of ramen._

_Neji, always cold, always ruthless, sharing a rare smile for Hinata that seemed to light up his face._

_Tenten nearly passing out from exhaustion while training and falling on her butt and laughing it off as if it were nothing._

_Lee, jumping up and down with the fire of spring-time youth in his eyes as he got excited over something, then saying goodbye with a 'cool-guy' pose and a smile that showed those stupid sparkling teeth._

_Naruto, smiling widely, his eyes squinted into that fox-like expression as he loudly proclaimed to all that could hear him "I'm gonna be the next HOKAGE!!"_

It took him a few seconds to notice the wetness on his face as the tears slid slowly down his face. But everyone in the room didn't notice, and even if they did it wouldn't have mattered anyways.

Kiba sat in a corner of the room, holding Akamaru's head as he lay with his head in his master's lap. Akamaru was whimpering, it wouldn't have been a surprise of Akamaru really did know what was going on. It sounded like Kiba was growling at first, but his face portrayed a different emotion. His eyes squinted shut, face twisted in a grimace and baring his teeth, Kiba was for once in his life crying full out. Tears streamed down his face in a constant flow while the growling was actually him trying his hardest not to break out into the open-mouthed sobs that had plagued Ino for the past hour and were still going strong. He clung to his dog's head like a life-preserver in the open ocean.

Shino, so unemotional sat in the room's only chair, a hard wooden thing against the wall behind Shikamaru. His knees drawn up and his arms wrapped around them, Shino sat in even more silence than Shikamaru. His lack of tears only showed that his insides were being torn apart even more than the others.

Lee. Tenten. Sakura. Neji. Hinata…

… Naruto…

Their friends. Their comrades and fellow students, their fellow ninjas on the field. They were all of these things to them and more. Shikamaru hung his head, the lead feeling in his chest hadn't gone away, and he had a feeling it would never go away. He wondered if his friend's names would be put on the memorial stone… they had to be, he would make sure of it. Naruto's name and all the other's deserved to be on there. Again he was thinking about something that was at least mildly less painful then the memories flashing through his head. _Dammnit! Let yourself grieve you idiot! Your friends are dead and you keep thinking about stupid things trying to escape from them… they deserve that much at least, to be mourned for, to be remembered. _

Ino's racking sobs had not stopped, or even slowed down. Shikamaru had found her like that, Chouji carrying her with dead expression of disbelief on his face. A scary face, Shikamaru guessed his face probably looked the same at the time. They hadn't said anything, Chouji just followed Shikamaru back to his room where they had already found Kiba and Shino waiting inside. Shikamaru couldn't even think of an accusation for them going into his and Chouji's room. Kiba and Shino were still in the same position when they had gotten there. No one had said anything. Not a word for the past hour. No one needed to, air was heavy with it.

"God dammnit!" Kiba half whispered half sobbed those words as he brought one of his hands up to cover his face as if to hide the tears. Akamaru whimpered and licked the hand that was still around his neck.

But it seemed the words sparked a flood.

"They didn't deserve to die like that, at the hands of sound nin." Shino's usually expressionless voice was for once filled with the raw emotion that was inside of him. "I know we live the lives of ninja, but they deserved more than others to die old, to die with a long happy life behind them…"

"S-Sakura…" Ino choked the name out of her still sobbing throat, "I d-didn't even… didn't even get to s-say goodbye…" Chouji wrapped his powerful arms around her as her hands tightened on his shirt and she buried her face deeper into his chest. The choking sobs were still heard even through Chouji's shirt.

"…they didn't deserve…"

"… I can't believe…"

"…Why?..."

"… didn't even get to say goodbye…"

"… I wish…"

"…Neji…Lee…"

"…Sakura… Tenten…"

"…Why?..."

"…Hinata…"

"… not able to become Hokage…"

"… Naruto…"

The silence that followed the barrage of words was all consuming. Chouji suddenly felt cold as a shiver passed down his spine, and he tightened his hold on Ino, gaining as much warmth from and comfort from her as much as from him.

Shikamaru wondered whether anything would take away the hurt they were all feeling. This time the thought was just as sorrow filled as the depression inside of him.

* * *

Naruto flung himself sideways as the three shuriken went whizzing by his head. This was going to be difficult. They had agreed before hand that they were not going to killing or even seriously injuring any rock nins if they could help it, there was no need to cause more trouble than needed. Naruto didn't realize how difficult this was going to be until now. 

The six rock nin patrol had popped out of nowhere… well actually out of the ground. Neji had been keeping his Byakugen focused in a sweeping line ahead and didn't see the rock nin waiting under their very feet. They had leaped up in an eruption of dirt and rock and had nearly taken off their heads, without their past eight months of hard training they certainly would have.

Neji was having trouble, using his Jyuuken could be dangerous to the rock nin, and may kill them. So he fought like the rest of his friends, with hands and fists, no weapons. His Byakugen was definitely giving him the needed advantage, he would probably have his opponent down in a few moments.

No weapons, Tenten was sweating as she dodged and blocked the rock nin's taijutsu and his kunai and shuriken. If it hadn't been for the fact that she had trained so much with Lee she would've been done by now without her multitude of weapons. She moved her head slightly to the side as the ninja's fist went flying by her face. _This would be so much easier if I could use my knives…I wonder if Neji will let me use just one knife next time._ For there was no doubt in her head there would be more times like this, six young teenagers running through the dead expanses of Earth country at high speeds that only ninjas could reach was not going to go unnoticed by the rock ninja patrols.

Hinata was handling herself as well as Neji, her Byakugen made dodging her opponents attacks relatively easy compared to everyone else… except maybe Lee.

Lee was having no trouble dodging his rock nin, the ninja must have only been chuunin rank because her attacks were as slow as molasses to Lee's eyes. The rock nin was becoming increasingly frustrated as the one armed opponent that she thought would be so easy to defeat was dodging her attacks in his sleep.

Sakura was having as difficult a time as Tenten. She was trying to find an opening so she could either attack or use a genjutsu or something on the rock nin attacking her with what seemed an unrelenting determination.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" Naruto had jumped back and gained enough time to perform a ninjutsu, his fastest of course being his favorite, the Shadow Clone Technique. Seven more Narutos surrounded the rock nin fighting him.

"Shadow clones? What the…?" That's as much as the rock nin could get out before the shadow clones leaped forward to attack. He punched one, kicked another and threw a kunai at a third, causing them to explode in clouds of white smokes complete with a high-pitched 'puff' sound. But four more remained. One sweeped out his legs from underneath him as the other three surrounded him bent down and kicked him up in the air simultaneously. The rock nin had no time scream as the real Naruto came spinning through the air and slammed a downward heel into his face, sending him earthward.

The rock nin hit the hard ground face first and didn't get back up. Naruto pumped his fist in the air as he let his remaining shadow clones disappear, "Yeah baby! That was the all mighty '**Naruto Rendan!**' take that!" Naruto's good mood disappeared just as fast as the body of the rock nin disappeared in a cloud of smoke to be replaced by an out of place rock. _Stupid Kawarimi no Jutsu!_

Naruto rolled his eyes in exasperation at the shadow that he saw on the ground above his, and casually side-stepped, bringing his elbow upwards into the rock nin's stomach as he descended from above. The rock nin dropped the kunai knife he was going to stab Naruto with as his eyes glazed over and he slipped into unconsciousness. "One of the rules of being a ninja pal: always know the terrain you fight in… that includes the position of the sun." Naruto turned to help Tenten who was nearest and having the most difficulty with her opponent.

Tenten and her rock nin were suddenly surrounded by five Narutos, all dressed in the bright orange pants and trench coat she had gotten them. They did nothing but stand there, but that was all she needed, the rock nin took his eyes away from her for a split second and suddenly found a fist in the face for his trouble. He landed on his side and tried to get up but was violently sent flying a few more feet as Tenten's black combat boots connected with his ribs. Four of the Narutos disappeared in puffs of smoke leaving only one behind, Tenten smiled "Thanks Naruto, I needed that."

Naruto nodded and headed for Sakura who was next in line at having trouble, while Tenten went to help Hinata who seemed to be doing worse than Lee or Neji.

Neji's opponent suddenly leaped back from his attack and performed several seals in rapid succession, "**Doton: Doryuu Taiga!**" The ninja breathed deeply then exhaled opening his mouth as wide as it would go. Neji found himself leaping upwards to avoid a wave of mud that erupted towards him from the rock nin's mouth. It was too late for Neji though as he realized he couldn't dodge anything while in midair. _Shit. _The rock nin smiled up at him and threw several kunai and shuriken at him. Neji closed his eyes and twisted in midair, letting his Byakugen do the work for him. He felt the projectiles whiz by him, barely missing, but even so, one Shuriken hit him in the back of the shoulder before he landed ankle deep in the mud the rock nin had spewed forth.

The rock nin snarled at Neji, no doubt upset that so many of his thrown weapons had missed, but grinned nastily as Neji flinched and reached up to tug the shuriken out of his shoulder. The rock nin rushed Neji while he was pulling the shuriken free, no doubt thinking that he had an opening.

But before the ninja could take two steps Neji whipped the shuriken out his hand and towards the rock nin without looking. The shuriken hit its mark and stuck itself deep in the rock nin's foot. _Maybe next time I won't argue with Tenten when she wants to use one of her knives. _The ninja had face planted in the mud and was getting up again. _I hate fighting dirty, but…_ Neji rushed up and viciously jack-hammered the bottom of his foot into the rock nin's face, knocking him out cold. _Probably broke his nose and few bones besides, oh well, he'll live._

Sakura grabbed the rock nin's head and slammed her knee into the man's face, releasing a little chakra on impact. Just a little. Even so, the nin's entire body stiffened momentarily then went limp on impact. She turned to grin at a stunned Naruto, "While is was moving around I was releasing a bit of focused chakra with each step, it changed the ground around us and tripped him for a moment. Thanks for wanting to help though." She left the impressed Naruto to run towards Lee.

Lee blocked the kunai strike with the armored plating of his right shoulder, it worked rather well, and with his speed it was easy to use it against a slow opponent as if he had fought without a right arm his entire life. He had only been stalling really to make sure his other friends were handling theirs okay, plus Naruto-san always complained about how hard he hit. He didn't want to accidentally kill this rock chuunin with too hard a hit. But most of all he was fighting a woman, and though she was actively trying to kill him they had agreed not to kill or seriously injure, and it was already hard to do that for him to a woman. Though he noticed his friends had gotten a little rougher in their fighting when they realized being nice about it wasn't getting them anywhere.

The rock kunoichi rushed him again only to find herself being slammed on her back as Sakura had come up from behind and grabbed a fistful of hair. Lee grimaced at that, it looked painful, but just as soon as the rock nin hit the ground as she exploded in a cloud of smoke leaving a gray rock behind.

Lee's eyes widened just as two hands erupted from the ground beneath him and grabbed his feet. The rocky ground turned almost soft as he was dragged completely underground. He began to suffocate immediately and tried to fight upwards for air but the ground surface had hardened again. _Okay not a chuunin then._ He had been paying to much attention to his friends that he hadn't noticed the Kawarimi no Jutsu.

Lee suddenly felt the scruff of his neck grabbed from above and pulled bodily out of the ground, the rock erupting around him in a shower of shards and dust. Sakura had slammed her fist into the ground, deep enough to grab him and root him out. "Are you okay Lee-kun?" Lee nodded groggily, his lungs were still trying to breathe as much air as possible.

Sakura turned around, murder on her face. _No one touches Lee! _She concentrated a goodly amount of chakra into her fist and slammed it into the ground releasing it all at once. The rocky ground erupted all around her and Lee, cracked earth and rocks tilting upwards from the force of her blow. Sakura looked up to see the shape of a person being flung upwards in the air from the ground below. She didn't bother catching the kunoichi as she landed in a heap on the ground like rag doll being thrown about.

Hinata's rock nin was having some difficulty now. He was attempting to dodge her, Tenten and about nine other Narutos… actually it was more like he was running away from them as they chased him down. They had to stop him, if he got away he'd warn enough people ahead of them to make their journey just that much more difficult.

The rock nin suddenly stopped and spun around pulling a scroll from his belt pouch, opening it in one smooth motion.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, activating his Zenseigan so he could read the seals on the scroll in a split second. His eyes went from narrowed to as wide as they would go, "AW SHIT! That's… !" It was too late, he couldn't gather the chakra in time to perform a counter-seal writing in midair.

The ninja grinned and slammed his hand on the seal in the middle of the scroll onto the ground. The seal glowed for a moment then stopped, nothing happened. Hinata rushed up and drop-kicked the rock ninja in the face, sending teeth flying as his eyes rolled up in his head. She stood up and turned to Naruto as he let his shadow clones go, "Naruto-kun? What was that?"

Naruto hastily deactivated his Zenseigan, "That was bad news that's what that was." Naruto turned to the rest of the group who had finished the rest of their opponents and called them over.

"What is it Naruto?" Tenten frowned at Naruto's finger as he pointed at the rock nin Hinata had knocked out.

Naruto's finger shook, "That… that was an alarm seal. It sends sound waves through the earth to anyone who has the receiver seal within _fifty miles._ Everyone and their grandmother knows we're here!"

Neji's eyes widened as he and Lee said at the same time "Aw Shiiiit."

* * *

Okay hopefully this chapter had enough of everything for everyone... though in my opinion not enough fluff really, that'll come in a little bit. Though personally i think i did pretty well on this action scene, making what should be an easy fight difficult for them. 

Alright, and here it goes... "I BEG, BEG! you to give me reviews, i will always beg, but i beg as i never have done before. If you forgive me for not being here for you, please show it by saying so in your reveiws and by spreading the word that the lemon god of jelloyness has returned!" and of course those of you who don't forgive me but enjoy my story anyways reveiw too plz (pleeeeeassszzze)

note: I know that because of my absence many of you believed i had given up on this story. but i made a promise to all you readers that i would finish this, and i sure as hell don't break promises if i can avoid it. i mean to finish this story, and i mean to finish it as soon as i can, just be patient with me as attempt to work things out so i'm more regular in my updates.

I also want to thank everyone for their Reviews, i mean really THANK YOU... though amazingly there's still people who flame (just a little bit) those of you who give me constructive criticism... thank you and I bow respectfully before you... to recieve the thoughts of fellow writers only helps me make this story better than it already it is. And most of all it has made me realize something... I _need_ a BETA... i really do. reading your own work and getting all the grammatical errors is near impossible, though i did edit most of the chapters before i posted this new one, even so, i really need a BETA to look over each chapter and correct spellings and sentence structure, i really do. it would make my life easier in the fact that i would recieve less reviews about the few, yet still annoying grammatical errors that no writer can seem to avoid. So if anyone wants to offer, please do so.

**Chapter Review: **You don't get one! bwahahaha! because i don't consider this ending cliffhanger enough in my diabolical mind, you'll just have to wait the week or two until the next chappie is out. but don't worry, it **_WILL_ be out **by then. i mean it, no work or school is going to hold me back from making you all dissatisfied again. (though personally i always think a good bit of sex always makes a dissatisfied person into a satisfied one... not that i'm suggesting anything... unless they suck of course... sad for the person who has to go trought that.) lol, i'm just as bad as Jiraiya-sama at times, i'll admit that.


	26. Onward: Ever Onward

**A/N:** Alrighty! Chapter 26 finito! If any of you looked at my profile you'd of known about the debacle that I went through with this site. Now that I got through that I can actually update. woohoo.

Now, I just want to let you all know that I'm lucky enough to be graced with _two_ BETAs. they are none other than **inu-youkess** and **Kage Husha**. They are the best evah! They are rather thourough in their editing, and so I Thank both of you gratuitously! lol. Oh, and I'm loving the reviews people, a lot of them are very helpful and most are very pleasant to read either way!

Oh one more annoucement before you get on with the chapter, for those of you who don't know, I've started another Naruto fic that I would like you all to read. It's called _Cursed Demon_ and is a rather different outlook on the Naruto Universe, this one (sadly for me and my poor fingers) will also likely be an epic-in-length one. So read, review and let me know what you think.

Alright than, 3nj0Y!!!11one (stoopid 1337 speak. lolzorz)

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 26: Onwards: Ever Onwards…**

"Aw, Shiiit!" Neji was surprised by the words that escaped his lips, but in this case they fit the mood rather well. Normally, in the past he wouldn't have stooped so low as to swear… but for the past several months his new brother, Naruto, had been having an 'effect' on him. Either way, if Naruto was right, they were in a serious predicament right now. "Naruto, how far did the signal extend?"

Naruto crossed his arms and pondered for a second with his eyes squinted shut. "Uh… like fifty miles or so. If I saw the seal right, it sends a really complex sonic burst through the ground in all directions. Any and all Rockies in the area will feel it and know what it means, which basically tells them that there are dangerous trespassers on their home turf and to send out their own alarm signals."

Neji could feel the sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach, cold iron freezing his insides. "So much for not being detected..." Their idea of moving quickly through Earth country in hopes that no one would notice them had apparently fallen into shambles. Neji turned back to Naruto. "How complex was the alarm signal?"

Naruto shrugged, "Well, other than what I told you, it basically took a kinda 'picture' of the surrounding area through sound vibrations in the earth. So it effectively sent our descriptions to everyone else to. I think they'll know what we look like now, even the color of our clothes… which I don't know how that worked, that's just what the seal does."

Lee moaned, "Our mission is a failure! What shall we do now? If we turn around, we have Itachi, and Kisame and Orochimaru to battle. If we continue onward, we will have ninjas of the Hidden Rock confronting us every step of the way!"

Sakura patted the shoulder of the now weeping Rock Lee. The others being so used to his emotional outbursts didn't take much notice. "Its okay Lee-kun, our mission isn't a failure as long as Naruto is alive."

Lee visibly brightened and did a quick nice guy pose, blinding everyone with his too bright smile, "Thank you Sakura-chan! You have restored my faith in me and our team!"

Sakura only shook her head from side to side whilst rolling her eyes, "As much as you've changed Lee-kun, there will be some things that will never be different about you." Lee smiled on, uncomprehending.

During this time, Neji, Tenten and Naruto had been conversing about what they should do next, completely ignoring Lee's loud voice, while Hinata tried to politely pay attention to both conversations.

Neji finally stepped back so he could address everyone. "Alright team, since our mission is to keep Naruto, not only alive, but away from Akatsuki and Orochimaru, we're going to keep moving north towards the mountains. It's our only chance. From now on, we are to avoid conflict if possible. If we are caught again, as it seems inevitable, we are not to hold back. If we have to kill to finish the fight quickly, then we have to do it. We must reach the mountains as soon as possible. That is our mission."

Everyone nodded in agreement, though he could see they didn't like the prospect of killing Rock Nin, especially Naruto. His downcast eyes reminded Neji of the time he told him about the Chuunin exams and how, in a fit of rage for insulting Hinata, had used a Kinjutsu and killed two other Genin, a Grass and a Sound. He hadn't meant to, and since they were his first true kills, he had nearly lost it. Neji remembered Naruto telling him how he had killed dozens of Sound Nin during his training with Jiraiya, and how he thought of anyone who followed 'that snake-teme' was no longer a human in his eyes. Sound Nin were more like monsters that deserved to die to Naruto.

Neji would have been worried about Naruto if it weren't for the steely determination in his eyes. His brother would do what had to be done; he would not allow himself to lose. It was his ninja way.

Lee pumped his fist in the air "Yosh! Let us move forward to victory! May the power youth guide us!" Lee was most definitely making a full recovery from the tree house being destroyed and from losing his right arm. To say the least his teammates were impressed, yet not really surprised. This was Lee after all.

Tenten socked Naruto in the shoulder, "Yes! Don't worry blond stuff; now that I can use my weapons of mass destruction you have nothing to fear with me protecting you!"

Naruto rolled his eyes at the joke, though deep down inside he had to wonder if the 'mass destruction' part was true or not. It would be like Tenten to pack something like that.

And with that Neji crouched down and drew out their traveling position in a patch of loose soil, explaining their positions. Naruto had a flashback to when a very lazy ninja had done the same thing a long time ago.

* * *

Shikamaru sneezed as he shivered in the rain. He really didn't believe that bull crap about sneezing when someone thinks or talks about you. After all, who the hell would be thinking about him? 

He had his left arm around a rather dejected looking Temari. Her two younger siblings, Kankuro and the Kazekage, Gaara, stood just behind her. To his right and behind him were Chouji, Ino, Kiba and Shino. Iruka stood in beside them all, three crying children pressed against his legs; Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru. None of the three genin had taken Naruto's death well at all, especially Konohamaru. The boy was in pieces now after hearing of his adopted older brother's death.

They were all in black, and it was raining. Shikamaru could remember a day like this nearly four years ago when the leader of Konoha had fallen to a serpent's fangs. It had been raining and grey that day to. Fitting that the day would be the same at Naruto's funeral.

Although, in truth, it wasn't just his funeral. The council had 'suggested' that Naruto's funeral be held on a different date than his teammates so as to have a 'special' procession for the 'hero' of Konoha. Tsunade had quite nearly ripped them a new one. She had plainly told the council that she wasn't fooled by their bigotry and that Naruto deserved a place amongst his friends. She had given them an ultimatum, either Naruto's funeral was held at the same time as his teammates, or there would be no funeral for any of them at all. This of course would have caused an uproar with all the families related to them, so the council had begrudgingly agreed.

Shikamaru looked around and behind him. There, all in black was the largest crowd of gathered Konoha residents that he had ever seen. The entire Hyuuga clan was gathered not too far behind him, Hiashi and Hanabi front and center. The clan leader's face was as hard as beaten iron as he stared at the two pictures of Neji and Hinata that sat on the dais in front of the crowd. His face gave away nothing, but a myriad of emotions could be seen flying across his usually emotionless pale eyes.

Hanabi was not much better. She held on to Hiashi's hand and stared at the ground, her rain-soaked hair covering her face. She had actually tackled Konohamaru when he told her he was sorry about Neji and Hinata. At first, Konohamaru thought she was going to hurt him and probably spout something along the lines of 'Hinata was weak!' and 'Neji was of the branch house!' but instead, she had been crying uncontrollably into his chest. The girl had never spoken two words to him in the academy and she had graduated at the top of his class with him at the bottom. The only thing she ever said to him was to call him dead-last. Now, he didn't know how to handle this. Being the way he was, however, if Hanabi needed a friend he would be there.

Konohamaru kept looking back at Hanabi as he held Iruka's hand, and they both blushed slightly each time they caught each other looking at the other. Hanabi had confessed to him how she had really liked her older sister and wished that Hinata could've just been accepted as the nice girl she was. She had been mean because her father expected it of her, and because she had hoped Hinata would toughen up and stand up to Hiashi. She had told him how she looked up to Neji and his prowess in battle, even though he was only of the branch house. Konohamaru had told her how he had always looked up to Naruto and loved him like an older brother. They had cried together at the loss of their precious people. Now Konohamaru wasn't sure whether they were friends now, or whether Hanabi hated him for seeing her cry. He would try and talk to her later to find out; right now he was too depressed to really do anything about it, especially since Hiashi kept frowning at him every time he made eye contact with the Hyuuga girl.

Standing next to Kakashi was Gai, weeping uncontrollably into the other jounin's shoulder as Kakashi half-heartedly patted his friend's shoulder. Wondering, of course, how he had ever become friends with the over-eccentric man. He was depressed himself though, not about Naruto's 'death', but more along the lines of him having to lie to everyone. He didn't like doing it, but he didn't regret it either. If this would help protect Naruto and allow Konoha to focus on the oncoming war then he would do it a thousand times over and then some.

Around the Hyuuga clan was Tenten's parents and family. Naturally they ran, if not the largest, the best weapon shops in Konoha. It explained a lot about Tenten and her obsession with sharp pointy things.

They stood close to Sakura's family. Shikamaru had never seen so many pink-haired women in his life. He used to think anyone with pink hair had dyed it as a fashion thing or something or other. Apparently he had been wrong.

Half the village had come, more than likely for the deaths of Naruto's companions, not for him. The other half had apparently not shown up due to the fact that the 'demon-boy' was having a funeral with all the others. Tsunade clenched her fist at that. None of the villagers would ever understand of course. The ninjas outside of Naruto's group had just barely begun to tolerate him. Naruto deserved this more than any other; someday she would make sure the village saw that.

The largest portion of the crowd though wasn't even Konoha villagers or ninja. The entire village that had built the 'Great Naruto Bridge' had been sent word and had come to the funeral for none other than Naruto. A sobbing Inari held the hands of his grandfather, Tazuna and his mother, Tsunami. Tsunade hadn't expected the _entire_ village to drop what they were doing and travel the several days it took to get there. She had had to delay the funeral a week for them to arrive on time. Several Mist Nin were among the Wave country villagers as well. Anyone who could defeat Momochi Zabuza deserved their respect.

The second largest crowd, were those from Suna. Gaara, as the Kazekage, needed an escort of course, but a large amount of ninja and villagers had come at Gaara's express wishes. Tsunade had heard that Gaara had apparently given a _speech_ to all of Suna, speaking of Uzumaki Naruto's merits and how much his village owed him. Gaara believed fully that Naruto deserved the honor of his village and had brought as many ninja as humanly possible without leaving his own village unguarded. It was an honor in its self, of course, to have a Kage from a different village come to one's funeral.

All in all, it was somewhere around ten thousand people. Shikamaru was impressed; he hadn't realized that Naruto had gained so many friends. His own instructor, Asuma, stood off to the side of Kakashi and the weeping Gai with Kurenai, Ebisu and the rest of the Jounin instructors who had come to like Naruto.

On the dais were no coffins, just six pictures. The highest and center was Naruto's grinning visage with Sakura, Neji, Tenten, Lee and Hinata's faces a little lower and ringing his. There were multitudes of flowers and the pile kept growing as everyone who came walked by, one by one, to place flowers in front of and around one or more pictures. Though, most of the flowers around the others were from Leaf ninja, Naruto's picture had the most flowers and cards around his… _a lot_ more. Having several thousand friends from different villages could be seen rather plainly as people had to start putting flowers around the dais and on the ground, which was now starting to pile up as well.

The entire funeral was taking place on top of the cliff face of the Hokage monument, right above the face of the Sandaime himself. Tsunade had chosen the spot personally, knowing it was one of Naruto's favorite haunts in the village. Plus, this was symbolic in some way and would hopefully reach the villagers and let them see what Naruto truly was. A small hope, and probably wouldn't do anything, but the Hokage could allow herself such small hopes.

She had already gone and had Naruto's and his friends' names carved onto the memorial stone for 'dying' in battle. Kakashi and Jiraiya weren't too happy about that, but neither was she. They had all agreed it was necessary though.

Of course, though Jiraiya stood with a depressed face that seemed to be lost in thoughts, inside his mind was roiling. He felt the very powerful urge to run off and hunt Naruto down so he could protect him, and if he knew Tsunade and Kakashi well enough he knew they felt the same. It was just so… _infuriating_! He knew he could help Naruto if he was there, but in doing so he would attract the attentions of every enemy Naruto ever had that was still alive. This funeral, and fooling the entire village, and a couple others besides, was to protect Naruto in a different way. He knew he had responsibilities to his village now that he was back for good and that his ex-teammate was planning for war against Konoha, but that didn't stop him from wanting to run off now and chase the blond haired boy down.

Tsunade looked over to Jiraiya and, with many years of knowing her teammate, she was able to see the torment running across his face. She felt the same inside, but this was the best they could do for Naruto now while trying to protect Konoha. She would just have to give both Jiraiya and Kakashi something to do to make sure they didn't go off and get Naruto or themselves killed. Matter of fact, she hoped she was swamped with too much work as well, for she wasn't so sure she wouldn't do the same.

As the last few flowers were placed the crowd started to disperse. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi and the rest of the jounin and ANBU started for the Hokage tower to plan on their defenses for the inevitable attack. She didn't bother inviting the Kazekage; he had already expressed his intentions of returning to his own village to do much the same after the funeral was over. They would stay in touch. After all, they were allies and they would need each other this time around if the word on the Snake Sannin were true. He was gathering not only missing-nins, but creating an entire army of ruffians and mercenaries. That coupled with the ninja from his own village and Orochimaru had Konoha outnumbered two to one already. And his army was still growing.

Gaara stared at the backs of the Hokage and the other jounin as they went to make their plans. As Shikamaru walked by with Temari in arm he stepped in front of them, his eyes still on the Hokage. "Nara Shikamaru, I would like to have a word with you... in private." Though his sister gave him a worried look, she had no reason to fear. He approved of the shadow user. The Nara was intelligent and brave, and even though he was lazy he wouldn't shirk his duties when they were needed. Plus, Temari was in love with him. That was a good enough reason for him.

Shikamaru stared at Gaara questioningly for a long moment, and then followed his gaze as he stared at the Hokage's back. Shikamaru turned back to Gaara, "Sure, why not?" he gave Temari a reassuring smile, though he didn't think she really needed it. He then followed Gaara, who had already turned to walk away from the crowd and towards the flower-covered dais where the pictures sat.

When they were out of ear shot, Gaara turned to face Shikamaru.

Normally the shadow user would've been nervous around the Kazekage, he remembered the chuunin exams rather well, but Temari had convinced him otherwise. Plus, after his many visits to Suna he had noticed the changes coming over Gaara as his expression became more and more peaceful. Now the leader of the Hidden Sand stared at Shikamaru with that peaceful teal gaze.

"What is it, Kazekage-sama?"

Gaara's mouth nearly twitched upwards in the ghost of a smile... nearly. "Just Gaara if you will."

Shikamaru shrugged, that bored expression on his face as usual, "Alright then, Gaara. What is it? Don't you have to be getting back to your village? If the Intel is true, we got a war on the not too distant horizon."

Gaara didn't bother beating around the bush, he never did, "I don't know for certain, but I don't think Uzumaki Naruto is dead. I don't know about his friends, but I doubt they are either."

Shikamaru felt confusion nearly overwhelm him as several other emotions attacked his psyche mercilessly; anger, depression, dread, suspicion and a small amount of hope. "What do you mean? And how did you figure this out?" He kept his words neutral, since he didn't know how to actually react to this tidbit of information.

Gaara, of course being his blunt self, answered rather bluntly, "I believe it's rather impossible that a group of Sound Nins, even elite ones, could defeat Naruto in combat. He proved that much when you and he fought the Sound Five and stood up against the traitor Uchiha Sasuke."

Shikamaru shook his head in disagreement, "We may have stood up against them, but they would've won if you, Temari and Kankuro hadn't saved our necks. And Naruto lost against Sasuke remember?"

Gaara did a good imitation of Shikamaru's shrug, "You were genin at the time, and you held your own long enough for us to get there and help. Naruto faced the genius of your village in a curse seal level two form and was barely defeated if I remember the report correctly. Now you are a Jounin yourself. Neji and his teammates included, and Sakura, Hinata and Naruto are all Chuunin rank. If you were to face the Sound Five once again at your current ability level you would've had fewer problems defeating them and wouldn't have needed our help at all." Gaara stared needles at Shikamaru to get his point across, "I don't know about Sasuke, or whether he's even alive anymore, but if he and Naruto fought now it would be a coin-toss so to speak."

Shikamaru was now nodding; he had been so swamped in depression that he hadn't bothered to think on it. Now that he thought about it, if any team of Genin or Chuunin Sound Nin showed up, no matter how much more powerful they were than other ninja of the same rank; Naruto's team would have no trouble defeating them. The reports on Naruto's 'death' hadn't said anything about them being Jounin. Even if they were it would be difficult to believe they could defeat all five of Naruto's guardians and the blond himself unless they sent several teams against them. Even then, it would have been an arduous battle, since Naruto and friends would have been fighting on their home turf, wherever it was they had been at. They would've known the terrain far better than a bunch of sound nins out hunting them. The only ones he could think of killing Naruto were either Sasuke or Orochimaru himself.

Shikamaru donned a pensive face. Then why, if Gaara were right, would the Hokage lie to everyone about their deaths? He doubted it was because she didn't know. Gaara gave him a meaningful look, apparently reading his thoughts from the expressions on his face. It only took a couple more seconds of hard thinking before it came to him. _Of course! What better way to protect Naruto then to convince everyone who ever knew him that he was dead! If everyone thought he was dead his enemies would believe that he was to. Something must have happened. Naruto and everyone must have been attacked or found out and had to go on the run again. That's the only reason for this to happen, Naruto is on the run and the only way to get his enemies off his tail is to convince them that he's already dead._

Now that he had thought about it, he believed Gaara's hypothesis was more truth than just guess work. How could he have been so stupid! He shouldn't have avoided thinking about Naruto and those who went with him just because it was painful. He was sure if he had just sat down for an hour and thought about it, he would've seen the lie for what it was.

If the Hokage was trying to pull this off, then very few people could know. She was one obviously, and he was sure Jiraiya and Kakashi were part of that exclusive group as well. He wouldn't be surprised if there was one or two more, but it was probably just them.

He looked back up at Gaara and merely nodded to show that he believed him, "We can't tell _anyone_ about this. If I feel I should, I'll confront Hokage-sama about this, but other than that, no one, and I mean _no one_ can know." It felt strange giving commands to a Kage, but this was important, besides, although Gaara was usually quiet and reclusive, he seemed like an alright guy once you got to know him a little.

Gaara nodded, "I figured that was the reason they were lying. You don't have to worry, no one from my village will know but me. Not even Temari or Kankuro. But I can't promise anything beyond that. If I think Naruto will need help I _will_ go and help him, he is my… friend." he still seemed to stumble around that word, but he meant it, "… and I cannot stand by if I know he is in danger."

Shikamaru nodded, "If either one of us finds out where he is, we'll let the other know, alright? He's my friend to, and my comrade. If he's in danger I want to help as well."

Gaara nodded and turned towards his Sand Nin, giving the signal to depart. He turned back to Shikamaru as the shadow user began to walk back to Temari. She was staying behind with the cloud gazer, "I'll stay in touch Nara Shikamaru."

And with that, Gaara rose into the air on a small cloud of sand as his ninja followed him west towards Suna. It was well known that he had lost the demon that had given him his powers to a rather obscure organization that hunted people like him, but apparently since he was born with the thing he retained its powers and could still manipulate rather large amounts of sand. Shikamaru had figured out a long time ago, after Naruto and his team had left, that that was why Akatsuki was after Naruto. He had felt a large amount of understanding for the boy when he figured it out and only felt his connection to the blond strengthen afterwards. Which he was pretty sure was the reason he had hurt so much when he learned of the Jinchuuriki's 'death'.

Shikamaru could get into some serious trouble listening in on so many conversations between Tsunade, Kakashi and Jiraiya. But he wasn't too worried about it; he felt too happy right now knowing that his friends were probably still alive and doing well.

As he turned back to Temari to take her to his house, he schooled his face to neutral and prepared the lies that he would have to tell her about Gaara's and his conversation. He didn't think he was a good actor, but he would have to be...

_For Naruto's sake._

* * *

He knew it had been a bad idea to hope. They had gone for almost an entire week without meeting any opposition except some border guards who had already received their descriptions. That problem had been solved easily, quickly and without any casualties on both sides. 

Now they were running at break-neck speeds in an attempt to put some distance between them and their pursuers. Naruto was more than a little irked at having to run like this.

Neji was leading in the front, scanning the horizon with his Byakugan and making sure to occasionally scan the ground to see if any more Rock Nin lay in wait. Sakura was right behind him with Naruto on her right and Lee on her left. She was the medic so she got the middle and the easiest access to everyone else. Naruto and Lee, both being the strongest in taijutsu and ninjutsu respectively, were close to the middle so they could give assistance where it was needed in a battle. Hinata took the rear, with Tenten to her left. Hinata's Byakugan was perfect for rear scouting and Tenten could help ward off any attacks from long range in any direction. Tenten was also in the rear to give Hinata backup if she needed it.

It was a good setup; Naruto was sure Shikamaru would've been proud of Neji and Naruto. Well, more proud of Neji, a bit more surprised with Naruto. Either way, it was difficult to dwell on the two brother's combined genius when they were being pursued and they couldn't attack.

Naruto gritted his teeth. This mission may revolve around him, but Neji was designated team leader and his orders, as long as they worked, were final. They could _see_ the Rock Nin only a mile or so to their left and right, and they weren't _doing_ anything. Other than flanking them, and keeping up with them, the Rock Nin hadn't made any move towards them at all. Naruto had to agree with Neji though, much to his own irritation. The Rock Nin hadn't made any threatening moves and for all they know they could just be escorting them or waiting for the opportune time to strike. It was unnerving as hell, and the tension was rising ever minute that nothing occurred between the groups of ninja.

Naruto had whined and complained to Neji to let him fight. He may not like killing people, but when there was a fight around, Naruto was more than willing. And if killing had to be done he would do what he had to do as a shinobi, no ifs, ands or buts about it. Neji had said no, even when Naruto laid down the plan of using his Zenseigan to write the required seal and use the Hiraishin on one of the rock-nin groups. He could appear out of nowhere and completely decimate them, leaving the other group easier to handle. Neji had said no many times, each one punctuated with one of his stoic yet slightly angry stares. Naruto grimaced at the memory. …_stupid Byakugan looking creepy on Neji's face…_

Of course, the tense silence had to be made worse... of course.

"There's another group behind us, about a mile away, and their closing rapidly." Hinata was looking over her shoulder periodically to scout behind, and had just happened to see the rather large group of rock-nin as she did her sweep of the horizon behind them. They were difficult to spot, even with her Byakugan. They apparently knew their land well, and dressed to blend in.

Naruto cursed under his breath, something about 'Byakugan' that was indiscernible.

Neji frowned, deep in thought. Even though no one else could see his face, he could easily see theirs. "What the hell are they doing?"

Naruto was already wracking his brain for the answer to that very question. Thinking may not be his forte, but when it came to battle and people he could have been seen as a genius. The positioning of the three groups had to deal with this. The two groups of twelve on both sides were easy to figure out. They were herding them, making sure they couldn't go in any general east or west direction. That left back south where they came from or north towards the mountains. They had already had decided that south was a bad idea, so to the mountains it was. _Then this third group comes out of freaking nowhere…_ and they were closing the gap between them… Naruto thought back to the chess book that Shikamaru had given him, which had now sadly been destroyed with the tree house. It didn't take long to figure out.

"Neji, Focus your Byakugan straight ahead and tell me what you see!"

Neji turned his head slightly so that Naruto could see him frown, but did as his brother bade him.

"Shit."

Naruto allowed himself to grin inwardly; he already knew what Neji had seen.

"What is it Neji, Naruto?" Lee was looking to both of them with a slightly perplexed expression. Sakura, Hinata and Tenten shared the same worried and confused looks.

Neji turned to look at Naruto with an impressed look for a minute before turning to address his team, it wasn't too hard moving backwards with his Byakugan active. "Naruto just figured out what the Rock Nin are doing. There's a group of Rock shinobi about twenty miles ahead. The two groups on our flanks are there to make sure we don't head east and west towards any cities." Not that they wanted to, going into a city had the possibility of turning out worse than the predicament they were already in. "The ones behind us are closing in to make us panic and run faster towards the Rock Nin up north who are waiting in ambush. They mean to kill all of us it seems. I'm pretty sure there aren't any Genin with these teams following us; we've already proven that we're dangerous when easily defeating a group of shinobi equal to our own number. For all I know they may all be Jounin." Neji turned to regard Naruto again, "Brother, remember that idea you had?"

* * *

Kamashi Jisawa was a Jounin captain, and he was currently leading the other eleven shinobi as they flanked the intruders, making sure they couldn't head west. Soon, they would run right into their trap and Jisawa's team would close in for the kill. He had six jounin with him and five chuunin, and they were still ordered to attack with caution, even with four groups just like his. Hard to attack with caution when his orders were to take no prisoners alive, all were to be killed. 

He didn't know who these intruders were, but they had defeated one of the shinobi teams that patrolled the borders; _humiliated_ them was more the term for it; a team of Jounin who had been beaten and subdued with ease. Still, Jisawa didn't know why they had to be so careful, they had them outnumbered eight to one when the trap was sprung. There wasn't a chance the criminals would survive.

Jisawa heard a small poof right behind him and angrily turned to see which of his idiot chuunin had performed a Shunshin no Jutsu without his command.

He was met by a pair of electric blue eyes dominated by nine-pointed white stars for pupils.

The blond orange thing grinned with a feral gleam to his eyes, "Hello ugly."

* * *

"...aaaAAAAHHHHHhhhgghh!!" Neji heard the high-pitched girlish squeal from over a mile away and used that as his signal to redirect his team. He suddenly made a sharp turn left, the rest expecting it and easily keeping stride. It took a couple of seconds before the two rock-nin groups, the one to the east and the one to the south slowed, stopped then bounded off at full speed, heading directly towards them. Neji only said one word, "Lee." 

Everyone suddenly felt a monstrous gust of wind as the dark green blur that was Lee streaked by them, heading towards Naruto, where explosions no doubt caused by the Zenseigan could already be seen.

Naruto was to surprise them, and then Lee was to rush in to help finish the job. By the time the rest got there the fighting should be over or relatively simple to finish and they could then angle northwest, heading towards the mountains and avoiding the ambush all together. Neji was pretty sure the rock-nin didn't put the Byakugan into their equations when devising the trap for them.

* * *

Naruto's Kage Bunshin were being taken out one by one, and rather rapidly at that. The apparent leader had been easier to deal with since he was so surprised, but Naruto hadn't expected to be deafened by the captain's high-pitched screaming as Naruto bodily picked him up and slammed him headfirst into the ground. His ears were still ringing from the sonic onslaught. 

As the last of his distraction poofed out of existence, Naruto was instantly bombarded by kunai and shuriken as several very pissed Rock Nin attacked him. Naruto, without any time for hand seals, utilized his Zenseigan to full effect, first causing a rather large explosion of wind element that harmlessly dispersed the kunai and shuriken around him. Then he started causing the ground to explode around the Rock Nin with focused explosions of fire.

One of the Rock Nin, a Jounin leapt back while performing hand seals, and then slammed his palms into the ground upon landing, "**Doton: Retsudotenshou!**"

Naruto suddenly found himself in the middle of an earth whirlpool, as the rocky ground broke apart into baseball sized chunks and began to swirl inwards and downwards at increasing speeds. Naruto was very glad he had taken the time to use Tenten's new kunai and carve in a few seals on his various items of clothing. He activated the seals on the bottom of his feet and leapt upwards, finding himself nearly sixty feet in the air.

The rock-nin grinned up at him, believing him exposed and harmless while in midair. Naruto grinned, this would waste more chakra, air-writing seals always did, but it would be worth it to see their faces. Naruto suddenly disappeared from view, no blurring of movement, no poof of smoke, just gone. By the time the rock-nin registered this: it was already too late.

"**Oodama Rasengan!**" Naruto had yet again used the Hiraishin no Jutsu and used the rock-nin's delay to produce a Kage Bunshin to help make one of his favorite variants of the Rasengan.

The second in command of the rock-nin, the one who had performed the earth jutsu on Naruto, found a basketball-sized orb of raw swirling chakra slammed into his chest by two of the blondes. The earth around them caved in and broke apart from the wild and chaotic pressure the oversized Rasengan was giving off. The jounin was slammed into the rock, as his midsection was ripped apart by the overpowered third stage of a technique he had never heard of. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Naruto stood in the middle of the crater with the dead rock-nin, "Sorry amigo, but you should've just left us alone." Naruto spun around to point at the remaining ten or so ninja, "Alright you pussies! Which one of you is NEXT!?"

This served to stun them long enough for a whirlwind of Azure Youth Power and Springtime Fire to appear among their midst and lay waste to their off-guard ranks. It was done in a matter of seconds... literally. The surprised Rock Nin didn't stand a chance against the superior taijutsu that was Rock Lee. Most were definitely dead; the others would probably decide to never be ninja again.

Lee turned and smiled at Naruto, "Yosh! Naruto-san, our Spring of Youth is victorious once again!"

Naruto rolled his eyes, dispelled his shadow clone, and tried his best to ignore the rampaging green thing that was his friend. "Ah, here they come Lee. Get ready to keep on moving." Lee stopped his tirade and waited patiently as their team finished catching up with them.

Neji didn't slow down or stop, he just kept moving at the break neck speed they had set as Naruto and Lee fell into place beside Sakura.

Naruto turned his head to give a foxy-grin to Hinata, "Mission complete!"

Hinata smiled slightly, the worry that was in her eyes melting away, "Good, I'm glad you and Lee-kun are okay."

Lee took this moment to give a thumbs up to… well, everyone, "Of course! Any one of us is a challenge to the enemy, but any two of us together cannot be beaten. We are a team that compliments each other perfectly!"

Neji nodded and was silently thanking the gods when Lee had to ruin it.

"For our Youthful Springtime shall never be quenched by such weak fires of our enemies!"

Naruto nearly face faulted. That confused him more than usual.

Neji was shaking his head, but decided that some miracles would take longer than others, "We've succeeded, all we need to do now is keep the distance between us and our pursuers as far as possible and reach the mountains. Hopefully we'll be safe when that happens." Neji squinted, straining his Byakugan as far as it would go, till the point it was almost painful with the amount of chakra he was focusing to his eyes. "If we keep this pace up we'll reach the mountains in under a day."

Naruto groaned, 'day' in Neji speak meant twenty-four hours. It didn't seem like there would be any sleep or rest at all for them tonight.

Sakura glared at Naruto, "Stop complaining, once we get into the mountains we can rest then." Though in truth her words held almost no heat, this was not going to be fun running for nearly twenty-four hours nonstop.

Hinata smiled, "We're alive, and that's all that matters."

Sakura and Tenten smiled at the Hyuuga, fully in agreement.

Naruto just groaned louder, "I miss my bed…"

* * *

Hiashi kneeled before the cabinet that held the pictures of his deceased wife. Now, two more pictures sat next to his wife's; one bearing a rare smile from Neji, the other showing the eternal blush of Hinata. 

As he looked upon the pictures, Hiashi hardly registered his grip tightening on the blade so hard that blood began to flow from his palm. He didn't notice the pain; it was nothing compared to what was happening inside of him. He had stopped noticing the tears running down his face a long time ago.

His nephew, Neji, undoubtedly the most talented of all the Hyuuga, no main family member could match up to his abilities. The boy had become an adoptive son to him as he worked the young genius hard, everyday, to bring out his full potential. To say the least, that insane man, Gai, was pleased with Neji's progress. All that hard work, all that bonding that Hiashi was finding easier and easier to do, had been for nothing.

As for Hinata, where did he begin? All her life she was referred to as the bane of the main house. Always in whispers and never spoken around her, Hanabi, and never, _ever_ around Hiashi. The branch house never knew, of course, about the secret behind the Byakugan. They were never allowed to marry into the main house, a rule set down to prevent too many from knowing and to avert the possible pain of having one's daughter die at a relatively young age. For the Shichubi was not always passed on through the apparent heirs of the clan, but to the most convenient daughter born from a main house family member.

Hiashi had spent the better part of Hinata's life distancing himself from her, and hoping to distance her from him. He knew what was going to happen, whether she gave birth or not, the Shichubi would be passed on to another, and his own daughter would die. The best he could have hoped for was to keep her home, away from the life of a ninja and let her die living a full life. Even if her end would be in her twenties, she would not have died in some horrendous battle.

Then she had to meet the container of the Kyuubi. The boy had actually _encouraged_ Hinata to become a ninja. Not only that, but being in close proximity with the Kyuubi could have untold consequences on the container of the Shichubi. He truly disliked the boy, amazingly though, not for the reasons that the majority of the village did. The boy was a savior, and in truth deserved to be looked upon as one. It sickened him to know that the once proud Konoha of his past had fallen so far to hate a boy that had, for all intents and purposes, saved the village.

But he encouraged Hinata to become a ninja again, to pass instead of fail, to become a Chuunin, and because they had fallen for each other, to be assigned as his bodyguard. And for that Hiashi looked down on him. He was not noble, he was not Hyuuga, and he put his daughter in needless danger. Hiashi's dream was to have Hinata hate him and live her life peacefully inside the Hyuuga compound walls. She would avoid him and he would never have to worry about his love for her coming to the surface. He had instated Hanabi as the heir for she was strong and capable of defending herself, and because it would redirect the constant kidnappings towards Hanabi who could actually defend herself.

And now here he sat, his and his brother's first children dead. Their lives cut short because of the disgusting monster that was Orochimaru. Hiashi may have called Naruto a 'monster' and 'trash' out in the open for everyone to hear, but he meant it in a way that implied he hated the blond for corrupting his daughter. Plus, it served the purpose of convincing the rest of the villagers and ninja of Konoha that he thought like the rest of them. More importantly it showed the elders of the clan that Hiashi wasn't sympathizing with the boy. The elders; the oldest and presumably the wisest of the Hyuuga clan that formed a sort of council that balanced the power of the clan head. They were the ones that made the laws, and it was they that Hiashi had to get permission from before telling the Godaime of the demon sealed into his own daughter.

Now it was all for naught, and Hiashi found himself wishing… wishing for so many things; to have seen Neji and Hinata one last time... to tell Neji personally how much he loved his brother and how much he wished he was still alive... to tell his daughter how he really did love her, and how _proud,_ so very proud he was of her for becoming a Chuunin. He may never like Uzumaki, but deep down he had been happy that Hinata was attempting to find the peace he so desperately wished for her.

Now he had failed them, he had failed his wife, and ultimately he had failed himself. He had failed everyone, his clan, the Hokage, the village, Hanabi. Strangely, or not so strangely, he didn't include the elders in that equation. He felt a stab of acidic anger in his chest at the thought of the elders. It was them that put the Caged-Bird seal on his brother's and Neji's foreheads, it was them that the Byakugan actually existed and why every generation there was a daughter that died younger than everyone else of unknown yet 'natural' causes. He had failed them indeed, but truly he didn't care. He remembered as a child, after comprehending what had happened to his brother, how much he had hated the elders and had resolved to change the family laws and get rid of the accursed seal. After becoming clan head though, he had found it was far more difficult than just signing a piece of paper. The elders had revealed all the clan secrets to him and it had changed his world. They had told him what his wife was, and what his daughter had become.

Hiashi gripped the blade tighter as the anger from those memories pervaded his body. If only he could have one more chance, just one more. He would abolish the elders, tell the village their secrets, and find some _way_ of getting rid of the curse seal and combining the two families as he had always hoped to do when he was younger. Just one more chance and he swore he would've done right with his daughter. He swore to the gods and on the very grave of his wife. He would've attached himself to Hinata like the father he should've been, he would've trained her, cared for her, encouraged her. He would've told her how much he loved her and how proud he was that she had reached chuunin, and then told her he wouldn't of been surprised that she could reach jounin. He would've done all of that, all for just one last chance to set things straight.

But he didn't believe in second chances. If one messed up in life, they lived with it and bore it through the rest of their lives. They could only hope to do better in the future.

Now, thats exactly what he was doing. He had signed the documentation that would put Hanabi in his place the moment he died, and written her a letter several pages long. It held the secrets of the clan and the means he had been plotting to bring down the elders and their power. It also held the apology of a lifetime. He told her everything and his reasons for being the way he was. He didn't expect her to forgive him, he expected no one to do so. He just hoped she could someday understand. It was nearly morning and she wouldn't be reading the letter until dawn anyways, he just hoped that they cleared his body away before his daughter could see him.

Hiashi raised the wakizashi, not paying heed to the profuse amounts of blood that was gushing from his cut palm. _Now I pay for all my sins. If the gods have mercy I will see you all in the afterlife long enough to tell you the things I was meant to._ Undoubtedly if he was granted such mercy, his soul would still be dragged to hell in chains. He wondered if the souls of his wife, daughter and nephew would spit on him when he apologized and then laugh at him as he was brought to hell. _I would deserve it._

Hiashi jerked, fully intending to ram the short blade of the wakizashi into his abdomen. He had gotten it from a metal smith's shop in Bushi several years ago when he had brought Neji and Hizashi to a meeting with a distant cousin by the name of Okinara. The world slowed and grayed around him, the blade moving through water towards his stomach. He felt no fear, and he felt no peace. Wasn't one supposed to feel peace before they died this way? Instead he felt guilt, filth-ridden guilt that pierced him deeper than any wakizashi could ever go.

The blade was a mere inch away…

Half and inch…

Touching the cloth of his kimono…

Cutting through the cloth of his kimono…

Touching and then piercing his skin…

"FATHER!!..."

Hiashi's well trained muscle memory kicked in and his arm stopped its rapid downward momentum in an instant. The very tip of the blade had just barely pierced his skin causing a small bead of blood to well up as he slowly pulled the blade away from his body.

He turned around slowly; his body was shaking for some reason as he stood up.

In the doorway of his room stood Hanabi, several sheets of brown vellum crumpled up in her hand, the letter he had left for her, and upon her face a look of such utter horror and fear.

Hanabi surveyed the room quickly. She may have been only fourteen, but it was easy to figure out what was going on from what she saw. First there was the overturned bottle of sake, half-tossed across the room. Second, on the open cabinet, were the pictures of her mother, Hinata and Neji.Third there was the blood-stained sword in one hand and the small spot of blood slowly spreading on his stomach. But most of all the red puffy eyes and the constant flow of tears that were streaming lines of defeat and guilt down his torn face.

"H-Hanabi, why are you up so early?" His mind had become foggy as realization of what almost happened dawned upon him, and so putting the cold commanding tone behind his words was just not working right now.

Hiashi found himself being tackled to his rear from a flurry of screaming black hair. Something was mumbling into his chest.

"Please, please, please, please, please… you're all I have left, please, please, please, please…"

Hiashi's mind snapped out of the fog as if it didn't exist. His body shook as he gently grabbed hold of his daughter and held her up so as to look into her eyes; amazingly he saw no accusation there. "I'm sorry Hanabi… for everything."

Hanabi was already crying again, and here she thought she would cry no more. "Please father, please…?" She found her self crushed to his chest, warm arms holding her tightly as her father's body heat began to calm her sobbing, though, his own silent sobs would not cease. She held his kimono with enough force to start ripping it.

Hiashi held his daughter fiercely. He was a Hyuuga and through his entire life he had proven over and over again how weak he truly was, even if no one else saw it. And here he was about to end his life in one final moment of weakness.

Hyuuga's were not weak: they were strong.

As Hiashi cradled the last of his blood to his chest. He came to the resolution that it was time he started proving just that.

* * *

They had finally stopped. They had run throughout rest of the day, the entire night and now it was midmorning and they had _finally stopped._

Everyone, including Neji, was sitting down on their butts as they surveyed the sight before them. Naruto stood with his hands on his knees grumbling under his breath, something about 'stupid pale-eyed brothers' and 'going to kill him'.

They had topped the last rise of the treacherous foothills before reaching the true feet of the northern mountains. Though treacherous foothills for normal people, they were rather easy to traverse for ninja. Even extremely weary ninja who had run without break for nearly twenty-four hours straight.

Naruto finally sat down and whistled at the sight presented to them.

The mountains were HUGE. Nothing he had ever seen, even on his travels with Jiraiya, could match the sheer _grandeur _of the northern mountains of Earth country. The cloud layer actually seemed close to the ground from where the mountain bases were encircled by the seemingly impenetrable vapor. Those clouds were at least two miles up, and Naruto had no doubt that there was snow above them, lots of snow. It was already getting colder each night as they had been traveling through Earth country and Naruto had been eternally grateful to Tenten for finding them trench coats and really thick sleeping bags. If there were a pass through those mountains they would be up there, through the cloud layer.

After a few moments everyone slowly got to their feet in preparation for the arduous journey ahead.

Neji looked up again, still amazed by the massiveness of the rock behemoths. "We keep moving till night fall, then find shelter and get a good night's sleep. Hopefully our _company_ will not follow us up there." Neji looked back one last time at the thirty-six or so Rock Nin that had been trailing them. They had gotten no sleep either, and were lagging behind. They still had another ten or so miles before catching up.

Everyone nodded solemnly. No one knew how long it would be, or what lay on the other side. Literally, _no one_ knew. Hinata had read in the tree-house library how not even the residents of Earth country knew what lay beyond the great mountains that made up their northern borders.

Hinata walked over to hold Naruto's hand, she was unsure of this trek through the mountains and needed her fiancés touch. Naruto squeezed her hand slightly, understanding without having to be told. Tenten did the same with Neji and not very surprisingly Sakura did the same with Lee.

They stood there for only a little longer in companionable silence before everyone moved to their position, hitched their packs and scrolls and such things and moved onwards.

Onwards: ever onwards.

* * *

**A/N: **Alrighty... in this chapter I wanted to put sadness, some funny stuff, action, and a very indepth view of the character enigma that is Hyuuga Hiashi. In truth I don't like the guy, he's a prick, but he's a noble, so it's to be expected. And in truth I believe that like every other father in this world, Hiashi truly loves Hinata and Neji with all his heart, even if he wouldn't show it, and with the right incentive (aka: their deaths) he would finally open up and at least try to become the Hiashi that is really him underneath the gruff exterior. 

So reviews please! Because the Jello god is hungry for the yummy bits of soul-stuff that you unknowingly attach to each of those delectable... err I mean _wonderful_ reviews!

**Chapter Preview:** Expect more fighting! The great trek across the great norther mountains in the great country of earth into the great land of the samurai! too many greats! I know! oh... and maybe a snipet into Konoha to see how their doin'.

p.s. don't worry, next couple of chapters at most they'll be meeting the samurai at long last. so BE PATIENT! lol.


	27. Fog

**A/N:** Alright, I'm not going to list everything that delayed me from posting this, cause if any of you actually read these author notes or profile, then you already know most of the stuff that I'm busy with anyways. But I did have family down for like three weeks, where I wasn't able to do any typing at all. When I was finally able to, I decided to retype the entire chapter (I thought it moved to fast) and so effectively turned the first draft into two chapters (this one and chapter 28)

Sighs again with the meany meany reviews. Well, I guess some people just really don't like the way I write, or what happens in this story. Others don't like how I have things happen in the story, and how I have things work in this universe. Oh well, there will always be people like that out there. But the good news is: is that for every one evil review towards me, there's like ten others, which in truth brings joy to my heart. Good reviews may not be the main reason I continue on with this story (I do it for myself) but they certainly make it easier and more encouraging to do it.

Alrighty then, this is officially my longest chapter by about one thousand words. Hope its good enough for all of youz

ENJOY...joy...joy..._joy..._

* * *

**Chapter 27: Fog**

"**Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi!**"

_Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!_ Naruto looked up in time to activate his Zenseigan and use a chakra shield seal above them, just as the rock avalanche jutsu rained human-sized chunks of rock around the group of Leaf Nin. _God damn it! That's like the twentieth time I've had to do that today! If they keep this up I'm going to run out of chakra and go blind from over use of this thing!_ It was true, Naruto's eyes were starting to hurt, and using the air-writing ability of his Zenseigan over and over again in the same day was beginning to tax his chakra reserves.

Behind them, about a mile away, was the pursuit party. The Rock Nin had not stopped at the mountains as expected, but instead had followed them in. Apparently, they had traveled at least a few miles in the mountains before, or maybe it was just the fact that they were from _Earth_ country, but they had been gaining the past two days of travel. Hinata and Neji said there were thirty-six of them.

That wasn't what was bothering Naruto though. Well… it was, but he was more irked at the fact that, because their pursuers couldn't see them, they repeatedly spammed that _retarded_ rockslide jutsu, randomly aiming ahead of themselves in hopes of hitting the supposed 'Missing-Nin'. So, although most of the rockslides were too far ahead, or too far behind, Naruto still found himself overusing his bloodline; and it was beginning to _hurt_, he had never used the Zenseigan so much, only using it for short periods of time during battles. This was getting out of hand.

It was hard going. Naruto and company had never traveled in real mountain country before. Used to covering vast stretches of land in a relatively short time period, Naruto was surprised, and a tad dismayed, to learn that they were only covering about two to five miles a day. Even though they were all highly-trained ninja, they were finding the constant upward slope a tad bit more difficult to traverse than forests or open flatland. Neji reported that the tallest peaks were about six or seven miles up… freaking high in Naruto's opinion, and that there was a pass about four miles up or so. That was above the cloud layer, and they had only traveled one mile upwards each day.

_Two days equals two miles, two more miles to go, two more days. _Naruto had to keep playing mind games with himself, not too much to distract him, but enough to calm him down when all he wanted to do was jump down and behind them, and rip apart every single one of those stupid Rock Nin.

_**Oh PLEASE!? Please, please, please!? I haven't come out to play in **_**days**_**; and those idiotic excuses for ninja would be perfect play toys for me. Arrrgh! Damn it, Naruto, we haven't stretched our claws in forever! And they're right there… first we'll rip out one's throat, then… then we'll crush another's skull with a tail and then rip the spine out of another… ooh, ooh then…**_

_Kyuubi, do you mind? I'm trying to focus here, and no, we are not going back there to kill a bunch of Rock Nin, EVEN if they are starting to annoy me. Priority of the mission is to get over these idiotically high mountains and find these Samurai Inzo-sama told us about._

A low base growl that almost escaped Naruto's throat emanated from the Kyuubi, showing his other personalities' extreme displeasure at being told 'no' when there was killing to be done. _**Fine… whatever, I guess we'll get to kill something later on; just pissed off that you didn't use our power against those other Rock Nin a few days ago. You know, we didn't even have to sprout a tail, just some demonic chakra to boost our speed and strength and we would've had an easy time and I would've been happy.**_

_Kyuubi, you're whining, and more importantly it's annoying._

This time a growl did escape Naruto's throat, causing Sakura, who was in front him, to give him a worried frown over her shoulder. Naruto always knew how to piss off his other personality… weird, since he was really just pissing off himself. Oh well.

_**I am **_**not**_** whining. We are the Nine-tailed Fox, demon lord and ruler of the second largest layer in Hell. We are the Kyuubi no Kitsune… and I do not WHINE!**_ The rest of Kyuubi's tirade was reduced to loud growls and mutters, which Naruto had to mentally stop himself from vocalizing.

Naruto ignored it for the most part. He may be almost a half-demon now, but that meant that the Kyuubi side of him was also almost a half-human so to speak, and the human emotions were starting to pop up here and there. It would be a couple more years, but eventually their two consciousnesses would eventually merge into one, new being. He would be both Kyuubi and Uzumaki Naruto, all rolled into one… and if Kyuubi was right, still able to somewhat converse with the other side of his personality. It was going to be weird.

Naruto frowned, it was only a day or two till the full moon, when Hinata would fully merge with Shichubi, but he hadn't seen any sign of her acting differently yet; other than the constant animal urges and heightened senses they were both experiencing. So he had asked the Kyuubi about it, and the Kyuubi had said the Shichubi was indeed truly slumbering inside Hinata's body, where the seven-tailed demon was storing energy for the massive change to come. It wasn't happening gradually, because of what Kyuubi had done to the seal on Hinata, he had almost completely erased it in one swipe; and to protect Hinata's mind from the backlash of energy, memories and another personality merging with her own, Shichubi had retreated to the back of Hinata's consciousness.

Apparently, while sleeping Shichubi was also using the stored energy to construct a complicated ritualistic seal formation that would safely merge the two beings into one new and balanced being; both Hinata and Shichubi. Kyuubi admitted that he didn't know whether Hinata and Shichubi would experience the same relationship and be able to converse the way he and the fox did.

Naruto figured that even though Shichubi was sleeping, Hinata still had access to some modicum of the demon's power, as was apparent when she had used the Shichubi's power to kill one of the jigokinu who had attacked the tree-house. Hinata later confessed she had used up the majority of her chakra with that attack, just like Naruto did when he had almost killed the other jigokinu. Which would also explain that, like Naruto had been able to, she could grow all her tails and not be nearly as powerful as she could be, due to the fact that she wasn't fully merged with the Shichubi and the fact that the seven-tail wasn't awake.

Naruto remembered when Kyuubi had awoken again from his slumber after he had, not actually weakened their seal, but had actually caused the seal to _progress_ to a point that it would've been at several years from now. Kyuubi explained that it was due to the backlash of chakra from Hinata's own seal. When Kyuubi had reawakened, only growing three of the tails had produced more power than when Naruto had fought Sasuke. Matter of fact, it was so much power that Naruto's body couldn't handle it properly, and with one more tail it would've have started damaging his body and shortening his life-span. Kyuubi explained that, even after merging completely, it would still be _extremely_ difficult to grow a fourth tail without extensive physical training so the body could handle it.

Naruto snapped out of his musings when he heard, yet again, another of those dreaded Doton jutus, shouted from somewhere in the distance behind them. Naruto looked up, but heard the rockslide happen some hundred feet or so behind them. _I am so glad they can't see us, or I would be so screwed right now._

Neji looked back at Naruto, the blond hadn't been complaining, but lately Neji could see the tightness around his eyes every time he had to use the Zenseigan. Neji could easily avoid the rocks on his own with a simple Kaiten, but that would only protect him and no one else, it would just hurt anyone nearby or within the area, so they had to rely on the fact that Naruto was the only one who could make a chakra shield large enough to cover all of them. Sakura and Hinata were the only other ones with enough control to create their own shields that could protect themselves. "Don't worry, Naruto, they can't keep chasing us forever. Eventually, they're going to give up, and we can find some shelter…"

Neji was cut off as, yet again, another rockslide came loose from the surrounding cliffs around them, and Naruto created the shimmering blue shield above them just in time; causing the rocks to bounce harmlessly away. Naruto deactivated the Zenseigan once again and gave his clan brother a pointed look. Neji sighed; the blond was hurting… and losing patience. Neji knew it would be easier to kill the pursuing Rock Nin and then move on, but he didn't want a chance of them discovering that they were Leaf ninja, and then one or more getting away to inform the rest of the country. That would simply be disastrous in the plainest of terms.

Neji turned around and continued leading his bedraggled team upwards, towards the pass that would hopefully give them some salvation. If only for the night. He knew that Hinata was going to merge with Shichubi. They had been informed of it when they came to Earth country.

They needed to reach that pass.

* * *

"Master, I assume you've already heard the reports on Uzumaki's death?" 

Orochimaru turned his head slightly to regard the kneeling form of Kabuto. The young man had survived the application process of the Curse Seal with ease and had achieved level two with a simple Seishingan pill, and a specialized sealing jutsu that allowed him to survive the process. Yet another powerful weapon to add to his arsenal, "Yes Kabuto-kun, I have heard of the boy's demise. The entire village held a funeral for him and his fallen comrades. Even Suna and a village from Wave country came to the funeral." The Sannin chuckled gleefully, "I wonder how many actually went for the boy, and how many went to curse him?"

Kabuto stood from his kneeling position to regard the leader of the Sound. The Snake Sannin had donned a new wardrobe since his transformation into near godhood. He was now wearing a half robe that appeared as a long skirt of white trimmed in gold and tied with a long thin purple belt wrapped twice around his waist. His bare feet could be seen poking out from under the hem of this garment. His chest was bare, revealing the glowing lines of the Souzou Saisei curling along his skin and face like bright purple jungle vines. Interestingly, instead of storing his favorite sword inside his body, as he always did, Orochimaru carried Kusanagi around in a sheath; not even bothering to attach it to hip or back, just carrying it around in his left hand when he decided to actually walk around. Now, the powerful sword leaned against the stone throne the Snake Sannin was sitting in.

All eight of the Snake Sannin's gates were open, and so the Souzou Saisei was constantly activated as well. Although, the opening of all eight gates made Orochimaru extremely powerful, the Creation Rebirth technique used up gargantuan amounts of chakra. The Snake Sannin was not pleased when he learned that he was only about two thirds as powerful as he would've been without the regeneration seal constantly on. But, it was required or else the huge amounts of chakra would quickly eat away at his muscle structure and tissue, literally burning him alive in a sense. Normally, the Souzou Saisei would shorten the Snake Sannin's life span since cells could only replicate so many times. However, since Orochimaru had fused his soul with a relatively powerful, yet still mid-ranked, demon, he had gained a form of immortality. Orochimaru's cells could replicate and divide repeatedly without end, allowing the Souzou Saisei to constantly be active.

There were still drawbacks, however. Contrary to prior belief, since Orochimaru didn't possess the body of a demon anymore, his cells couldn't handle the extreme amounts of stress when he opened more than one of the seals on his forehead. In total, Orochimaru had six Souzou Saisei seals on his forehead, each a small purple diamond and all arranged in an upside down triangle. The seal on the bottom of the formation (this would be the tip of the triangle) was the one constantly active. The one was needed for the overflow of chakra received from the open Gates; the others could be used to regenerate any wounds that Orochimaru received in battle.

Sadly, after some testing, Kabuto discovered the weakness of opening more than one of the seals, and the Snake Sannin was not pleased to find out that his body would age normally with two open, and age the same rate that Tsunade did when she had one active, when he had three open. Kabuto warned his master against using four or more, it would be too dangerous… though, he had concluded that with six open, as long as Orochimaru's head wasn't damaged, he could regenerate his entire body within two to five seconds flat. At the same time though, the Souzou Saisei would use up so much chakra that the Snake Sannin's Gates would close… permanently, and he would have to move to a new body since his old body would age about fifty to sixty years within those few seconds.

All in all, with all of the restrictions, Orochimaru was vastly more powerful than he had ever been. Already about Kage level in skill in the first place, with all the Gates opened not even Uchiha Itachi would be much of a threat. Although, a combined assault of three or four of the great Kages, or a few members of Akatsuki could in theory have a chance of defeating the powerful Orochimaru. Either that or a Jinchuuriki who had gained enough control over his or her tenet to use their full power.

Right now, as Kabuto looked upon his master, the Sannin was suppressing his amount of chakra output so as not to destroy the very room they were in. Even now, with his chakra levels suppressed _significantly_, there was still a small wind that emanated from Orochimaru, enough to stir one's clothes and hair the closer they got to the near-god being.

Kabuto smirked, the most beautiful thing in creation in front of him, and he had a hand in creating it. A true masterpiece of art, and the ultimate specimen to study, even more so than a Jinchuuriki. "I suppose this will make it easier for us. One less Jinchuuriki for you to fear, and one less for Akatsuki to get their hands on."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the declaration that he would fear something, but let it go; he gave Kabuto too many liberties. "Yes, its too bad that I didn't stay with Akatsuki long enough for the leader to tell me what their 'grand ambition' was. Apparently, after I left, he told everyone else what it was to insure that they wouldn't do the same as me." Orochimaru grabbed the pommel of Kusanagi and began to idly twirl the sword, point down, without really realizing it, "I was only there long enough for a couple Jinchuuriki extractions, and after learning enough about demon summoning from one of the members, I left to continue my own ambitions." Orochimaru tapped a finger on his lips pensively, "Hm, I wonder if he's still with Akatsuki anymore or not. Did you know, he was the one who taught 'Leader' the extraction process? Probably the last Koumajutsu specialist in this world, and I don't even know if he's alive anymore."

Kabuto left his master to his pondering for a moment longer. Ever since the transformation, the Snake Sannin had been even more calm and languid than usual; like a content snake that had eaten a rather large meal and was only waiting for it to digest before going on the hunt once again.

He didn't give him long, though, there were more important things to talk about than his master's reminiscing of Akatsuki, "Orochimaur-sama, if I may finish my report…" Orochimaru waved impatiently, "The preparations for the war are going as planned. More and more criminals, mercenaries, and Missing-Nin come in everyday. They're currently being trained and assigned into platoons and shinobi teams as we speak. After discovering those ancient weapons in those ruins to the west, we have scientists replicating the Mi-ssil-es."

Kabuto stumbled over the strange word, but it didn't matter, if the ancient text was correct, these explosive projectiles could level an entire block of buildings or a small village. There were even smaller portable ones called Ba-zoo-kas, and small, round, egg-shaped explosives called G-re-na-des. Kabuto had been fascinated, though the weapons didn't deal with human anatomy, he was interested in how the explosives were used by the ancients instead of the now commonly used explosive seals. There had been some… 'accidents' when trying to recreate the weapons, which had left visible testaments to their unnatural power.

The West was more modernized than the East, or so it was said, and it was rumored they had recovered some of the ancient technologies that had been lost so long ago. Kabuto didn't care, if enough were gathered and trained in the making of such weapons, the newly emerging Sound Nation would become a war juggernaut with a god to lead it.

Orochimaru chuckled again, continuing his twirling of his sword, "That is good Kabuto-kun. The most powerful Jinchuuriki out of the way, and my war machine nearing completion with each day. After Konoha is defeated, then the rest of Fire Nation will fall. After that, the Akatsuki and their gathered demons will be gathered for my own, and with all that power… the world will be mine for the taking." The chuckling started to become slightly hysterical as Orochimaru stopped twirling his sword. The Sannin covered his eyes with the other hand and burst out in full maniacal laughter.

After a few minutes, Orochimaru calmed down enough to speak again in between chuckling, "And do you know what is the best part, Kabuto-kun?"

Kabuto shook his head, not seeing how their situation could be much better than it already was.

Orochimaru grinned devilishly, baring his sharp canines, "Ku ku ku, the best part, Kabuto-kun, is…" he lowered his voice to a barely audible whisper, as if sharing a secret.

"… I have all the time in the world."

The ensuing maniacal laughter could be heard all through the underground compound. Many who had heard it before felt shivers crawl up their spines, knowing full well who it was, while the new comers looked around in fear at the eerie sound that would only come from a madman.

Too bad none of them caught the joke.

* * *

"So, they decided to go over the mountains huh?" Kisame looked to his left at his dark-eyed partner, as he looked upwards at the cloud shrouded mountains. 

"It would appear so."

Kisame snorted, "So… what do we do now? Did you wanna go after them, or what?" He didn't really understand why his partner merely wanted to follow and observe the Hyuuga and Uzumaki brat, but he didn't really care to understand, he just wanted to fight something. Even though 'Leader' gave them the express instructions to wait on capturing the blond, Kisame personally was ready to throw that order out the window for little bit of fun at least. This was just so… boring.

"No. I assume they will be looking for the Samurai. My Mengekyou Sharingan has difficulty affecting their _unique_ brand of chakra." Short flashes of memory went through Itachi's head as he remembered the few times he had fought against the samurai on his own. Facing that fool Okinara and ripping out his soul had used a good bit of chakra and had hurt his eyes. He had had to deactivate the Sharingan for a couple of days afterwards.

Kisame looked over at the Uchiha with a bit of surprise, though the stoic face of his partner betrayed no emotions as usual, he doubted there were any emotions anyways. "You faced other samurai than that Okinara idiot? And it looked to me that your Mengekyou handled him just fine."

Itachi shook his head in disagreement, "No Kisame-san, I had to use a large amount of chakra to affect Okinara. The samurai brand of chakra is rather… difficult to deal with." In truth, one had to be powerful enough or know how to get past their strange chakra in order to affect the samurai with basic jutsus. "In truth, I'm rather curious on how they do that."

Kisame shrugged, the red-eyed man hadn't elaborated on his past fights with samurai, and he wasn't going to push. That would be just plain stupid. "And the brats?"

Itachi turned away from the mountains, facing a south westerly direction, "They will most likely be there for a couple years before coming out. Before we face them, I would like to check up on an old acquaintance."

Kisame grinned, showing shark-like teeth. If anyone had called him an 'aquaintance' with that dead-tone of voice, he would've run for the hills so to speak. "So, we're going to check up on that snake bastard, eh?" Now _this_ would be interesting.

They started walking casually towards where Orochimaru's latest base had been found by their agents, "Hey, Itachi! I heard that old Orochi's gotten all immortal and super powerful lately. Are we gonna fight him? 'Cause, I don't know about you, but Samehada is itching for good meal, and she hasn't gotten one lately."

Itachi continued staring ahead towards their distant destination. "Maybe, Kisame-san… maybe." He would deal with the Uzumaki boy in due time. Only when he deemed the boy ready though.

"… Patience, Kisame-san."

* * *

Neji held up his hand to signal a halt to everyone behind him, "Alright everyone, I think we can take a rest for a bit now." 

Naruto promptly dropped onto his rear before anyone else, ignoring the unevenness of the ground beneath him, "FINALLY! Ugh! Three days. Three. Days. I mean seriously, who would want to chase someone three days straight through the mountains without rest? Through a forest, or across the plains maybe… but, MOUNTAINS!? Who the hell do they think we are? Who the hell do they think _they_ are, I mean come on…"

Neji shook his head in dismay and partially tuned out Naruto's tirade as he looked around till he found a suitable flat spot of rock nearby. His legs were sore, and he needed as much comfort as possible. Naruto, being his freakish self, could keep going all day probably, even after overusing the Zenseigan.

The pursuing Rock Nin had finally given up after three whole days of running through the mountains. Neji had been surprised they had been chased that long, and in truth his entire team was exhausted, to say the least. Neji was sure the Rock Nin started thinking about giving up when Naruto replicated the avalanche jutsu with the Zenseigan. He had randomly aimed an elemental burst of earth behind and surprisingly they had heard groans and moans of injured and dying after the initial explosion of rock. After Naruto nearly swooned and fainted though, Neji requested that he refrained from doing that again.

Early the next day, the Rock Nin had stopped firing their avalanche jutsu and had appeared to retreat. A quick scan with the Byakugan confirmed it. Neji breathed a sigh of relief as he carelessly sprawled his exhausted legs in front of him. Soldier pills may allow one to continue for days on end, but that didn't stop the feeling of exhaustion one felt in their muscles. You could ignore the exhaustion, but once you started feeling it, it was time to stop and rest, for if you didn't take a soldier pill the next day the exhaustion would overwhelm and you would pass out, sometimes for days at a time.

Neji looked upwards towards the looming cloud layer. Barely less than a mile up, the unnaturally roiling gray clouds looked close enough to touch; but it would take all day tomorrow to reach and get through the cloud layer to the pass that was right above it. It would be night time then, and it would be the full moon.

Neji looked towards Hinata, who was squatting down next to the rampant Naruto, attempting, and failing miserably, to calm the blonde's diatribe. She instead settled for sitting behind Naruto and wrapping her arms around him as he continued to spout profanities about Rock Nin, Earth country and how bad their ramen must taste.

Neji could feel the tension in the air as Lee and Sakura sat next to each other and gazed upwards at the clouds. He nearly jumped out of his skin as a pair of slightly callused yet very deft hands began to rub his shoulders in a relaxing circular motion.

Tenten giggled from behind him, "Guess you're letting your Byakugan relax too, huh?" After she felt Neji relax his muscles from her rubbing she switched to a circular massage that would work his back and shoulder muscles. "You know, with all this running, I'm in terrible need of a _massage_, Neji-_kun_. I wonder when we'll have a nice bed again?" whispered this softly in his ear, the air from her breath tickled the sensitive skin, causing a slight wave of goose-bumps to spread across his back and arms.

Neji felt a very raw need grow in him a little. They had been moving nearly two weeks now, with no rest except at Bushi; where they ended up fighting insane samurai anyway. At least Bushi had a nice soft bed, which by the way was put to good use on his and Tenten's parts. Regrettably, Neji let the need wash away… a little, and let his mind drift under his love's skilled fingers. _So many things to worry about. Sakura has been having strange and recurring nightmares, I'm not one to believe in omens but those are beginning to worry me. Lee has lost his dominant arm and will probably have to retrain his entire taijutsu style. Naruto's power is possibly dangerous for him to use if he uses too much, and of course let's not forget, Hinata is going to become a half demon tonight. And, as team leader I have to lead them all, and as a family member I have to keep them all alive._

That of course wasn't including everything about Tenten. When they had the time to make love, he had to calm himself down enough to remember to use a contraceptive jutsu. Ever since that first time in the shower at the tree-house, he and Tenten had agreed on contraceptives until marriage. Apparently, Naruto and Hinata were doing the same thing… lucky for the blond, apparently Kyuubi remembered to do the jutsu every time; or something resembling it anyway. Which brought on the worry of what he was going to tell Hiashi when he saw the clan leader again. He was already angry at the man, and storming in, angrily announcing that he was marrying outside the clan, had had his Caged-Bird seal removed, and had made Naruto an official Hyuuga through the old laws… well, that probably would not be the best way to go about it.

Tenten giggled again, "Love, you need to stop thinking so hard, you'll get worry lines when you're older. Just relax, everything you're worrying about is going to work out in the end. We just have to make sure that they do."

Neji nodded his head reluctantly and gave the brown haired girl a smile before closing his eyes to enjoy her skilled fingers at their finest, she really did look amazing with her hair down and in braids. It was _cute,_ and amazingly adorable.As an afterthought, he activated his Byakugan, just in case.

He supposed this clearing would be good enough for the night's camp. It was still a couple hours before sunset, but they needed the rest if they were going to make it to the pass by tomorrow night. It hadn't rained in the three days they'd been in the mountains, another thing that made the ominous cloud layer unnatural. They looked like it would rain any minute, but Neji could tell it hadn't rained on the barren ground in months… maybe even years, and the way the clouds looked and moved was bizarre; the cloud layer looked thick enough to be solid so it felt like one was looking _upwards_ at a gray ocean. Plus, the clouds moved too fast for normal clouds, they looked like roiling fog caught in a high wind, adding more to the illusion that they were sitting underneath a layer of gray water. Neji was not looking forward to traveling through that cloud layer, it hindered his Byakugan so he could barely see all the way through it, and it was a couple hundred feet thick. The only things Neji could think of that blocked his Byakugan was extremely dense chakra and about a full inch of solid lead. No, he definitely was not looking forward to traveling through those unnatural clouds.

Naruto had finally stopped his tirade of the injustices of Earth country done upon his team, more particularly, done upon himself. No one had really listened of course, except Hinata… maybe. She was now softly purring against his back, easily claming him down, although she wasn't doing it on purpose now, he could tell she had fallen into a light sleep. He left her like that, she needed the rest; she and Neji had used their own Bloodlines as much as he had. Of course, they were born with the Byakugan and had trained their entire lives with it, but that didn't mean three days of straight use wasn't going to tire them out. Naruto saw that Neji was getting similar treatment as himself, Tenten was massaging the Hyuuga's shoulders, expertly calming him down and pulling the stress out of him.

Naruto had noticed his clan brother's unease in the past few days. Neji was the team captain, and somewhat the father figure of their little six person family, but he hadn't had to do much at the tree-house, just train and help Naruto train. Now though, Neji was hard pressed to ensure that his new family and team survived this mission of guarding the demon-container. Especially now that it was known that Hinata was a demon-container as well. Naruto felt sympathy for his normally centered brother, the past two weeks had been the most stress filled and hellish of _all_ their lives. It seemed their journey would never end, but being himself and number one most hyperactive ninja of Konoha, he wasn't going to let that stop him, and he knew Neji wouldn't either; or Hinata, Lee, Sakura or Tenten, for that matter.

Of course, a place to rest for a week or… fifty, would be welcomed as well. Naruto looked down at his right arm, the loss of the tree-house was still there; a hole in his chest that he was sure would never go away. He had a lot of those emotional scars, but had never allowed the burden to overwhelm him too much. He would remember the tree-house and everything that it had brought him, but he would keep moving on. He was a survivor, and surviving and moving on is what survivors did best.

Naruto looked back at Neji and noticed he was gazing upwards again, so was Sakura and Lee. Naruto craned his neck to look up at the roiling mass of gray above their heads. Those clouds freaked the _shit_ out of him, they were so plainly not natural it wasn't even funny. Naruto shook his head, clearing the foreboding thoughts from his mind, "Hey, Bro'! We going to stay here tonight? Cause' I don't know about you, but I'm a wee bit tired."

This outburst cause Hinata to wake up, look around for a moment, then drop her head again onto Naruto's back, falling back to sleep and resuming the deep purring rumble that was coming through her chest and into his back.

Neji looked away from the clouds at Naruto and nodded wearily, obviously too tired to do anything else, and then closed his eyes again as Tenten continued her massage.

Sakura jumped up and whooped, "Finally! Rest and sleep. I'll admit it's not a feather down mattress, but a hard slab of rock will do for any bed at this point in time." She sat back down and lounged against a jutting rock as if it were a recliner and closed her eyes, allowing the exhaustion of the past few days wash over her in a torrent. She felt a little surprised when something warm, soft and heavy fell in her lap. She opened one eye to see that Lee had passed out on her lap. She felt to tired to say or feel anything about it, but her last thought before she sleep pulled her away was that she rather liked Lee's head in her lap… she dreamed a little of how many ways that statement could be taken.

Naruto gently turned around and moved Hinata so she and he were lying next to each other with her head resting against his chest. He sensed sleep coming for him as his chest began to slowly rumble with a deep purr that made Hinata smile unconsciously. His last thoughts were worrying about the Hinata and the full moon tomorrow night.

Neji in turn gave Tenten a massage before they too drifted off to sleep. Neji worrying about everyone, and Tenten worrying about Neji.

Lee worried of nothing. He dreamed of bunnies and squirrels with pink fur leaping through spring green fields of youth… then the bunnies and squirrels performed Oroike no Jutsus, and Lee found himself defeated by a Harem no Jutsu of nude Sakuras.

Then Gai-sensei appeared, and everything was right with the world forever after.

What a dream. What a dream.

* * *

_Again, she floated in darkness. In the distance she could see small flashes of light that seemed to be light years away. Yet, at the same time she could see exactly what the flashes of light revealed._

_She had been having this dream repeatedly ever since that night when they escaped Bushi thanks to Naruto and Kyuubi. She already knew now that, when she woke up, she would not remember anything about the dream, other than the fact that it made her curious and, even more so, made her terrified. It was strange knowing what was going to happen, and knowing you wouldn't remember later the exact details. But, such are the worlds of dreams and nightmares._

_Although, she already knew what would happen, every time she dreamed this dream, something new would be shown with all of the old._

_The flashes grew brighter… and she began to see._

_-flash-_

_Lee stood alone amidst his enemies; nothing but shadows they were. She feared for him, but she had seen what would happen. He was dressed so differently, as if he had come from some far away land of beach bums. It made her giggle a little, of course she always giggled at this part, when she saw Lee. _

_He wore baggy board shorts, and a baggy opened t-shirt/coat that bared his muscular chest and stomach. On his feet she thought she could see… flip-flops. A jug of sake was tied to the rope belt around his waist, and he once again wore the bandages on his left hand, on his right shoulder he wore the metal shoulder plate Tenten had gotten for him. What was most astonishing though was his hair, as if he had just let the wind do what it wanted with it, throwing it this way and that and causing it to stick out at weird angles. She wanted to run her hands through it and add her own touches._

_As the shadow enemies closed in, Lee casually took a sip from his sake jug and then exploded into blurred motion…_

_-flash-_

_Hinata shown as something so bright and white that Sakura had to close her eyes against the light for a moment, before squinting through her upraised hand to see what was happening._

_Hinata stood, stripped of all clothing, baring her pale skin to the world. She stood facing something so colossal and white that Sakura knew it was where that intense light was coming from, it was like looking at a star close up. It was living and writhing, and several white, _"things" _was the only word she could use, whipped out towards Hinata, wrapping her in snowy velvet light._

_Hinata was dragged closer towards the massive thing that had ensnared her, at first reluctant to get closer. Then suddenly, with confidence, she began to move forward. This seemed to frighten the massive thing, as it began to move backwards away from the advancing Hinata. But, it was too late, the beast of light could not get away, and as Hinata ran and leapt into the white light there was a massive explosion._

_All that was left was a nude Hinata covered in lavender colored stripes, when she looked up and opened her eyes, it was not with the Byakugan that she gazed upon Sakura with…_

_-flash-_

_Neji stood with his back to her, on a battle field shrouded in thick white fog. All around him arrows, kunai and shuriken flew. Men ran by, men fought and men died. Every now and then there was a flash of red and yellow light in the distance as something exploded. Neji stood in armor that Sakura had only seen in books, two swords in his hands. One longer, one shorter, and they were stained in blood up to his elbows._

_All who came near him… died. He was running towards death, and running from something that had been following him, trying to save him._

_Neji turned so she could see his face. Tears of blood burned lines of fire and despair down his face and he screamed in agony…_

_-flash-_

_Tenten stood next to her staring off into the distance. They were on a cliff and when Sakura turned to see what Tenten was staring at she screamed. She always screamed at this part._

_Before them, hovering and twisting in amongst itself was what looked like a glowing green snake of massive proportions; but, Sakura recognized it for what the ancients had once called such things._

_A Dragon._

_Its eyes, and limbs whipped back and forth, twisting and spiraling in amongst itself as it floated before them. It opened its mouths and shook its tails as it loosed a thousand roars. Tenten screamed a battle-cry as she brandished what looked like a giant black butcher knife made of poorly beaten iron. It was a sword just larger than Tenten, and nearly as tall as Hinata, and it glowed with a pale green light that scared Sakura. A fear that clutched Sakura's heart in a vice-grip of glacial ice. The dragon, too, seemed terrified of the weapon and turned to fly away, but Tenten leapt forward off the cliff towards the great serpent._

_There was scream of pain and a scream of triumph…_

_-flash-_

_Naruto was screaming._

_He clutched his head as if in pain, the Zenseigan activated and using enough Kyuubi chakra that the bright blue of his eyes was a crimson red. Killing intent slammed into Sakura like none she had ever experienced before and she collapsed to her knees. She was a bug, an insignificant thing compared to such power. This thing was ancient beyond reckoning and had killed before the human race was even a twinkle in the gods' eyes._

_The Zenseigan spiraled and un-spiraled, fluctuating chaotically and causing Naruto to only scream the louder. The killing intent rose and fell, reeking havoc on Sakura's mind, she moaned, she screamed, the world… it was ending._

_Everything around him was being destroyed, the land, the sky, the sea… enemies… friends…_

_-flash-_

_Once again, Sakura stood and faced herself. As if it was a mirror. The fear she had been feeling returned once again. She could deal with all the other visions, if that's what they were, but not this one, anything but this one._

_The other 'Sakura' reached out, and she could do nothing to stop the doppelganger. She couldn't scream or move as the other Sakura touched her chest. Her hand rested there for a moment, warm, alive… then suddenly it turned ice cold, as if she had been thrown into a tub of ice water. The other Sakura's hand turned a black color and sank into the real Sakura's chest. Her breath caught as she felt the fake's hand grab _something_ and then mercilessly tear it out._

_The other Sakura was screaming as she was devoured by the darkness. A moment after Sakura began to scream, finally able to, as the darkness around her latched on with inky black tendrils and began to engulf her. Icy coldness spread through her limbs and inside of her as the bleak dark slid down her throat, choking off her screams, and into the space created by what the fake Sakura had ripped out._

_Sakura felt herself go limp. The fear left her as she resigned herself to what was happening, and the darkness devoured her._

* * *

Sakura woke up with a gasp, sitting bolt upright as cold sweat seemed to invade every crevice of her body. 

"S… Sakura-chan… c-can't… breeeathe…"

Sakura gasped again as she saw that Lee had apparently woken her up and in pure reflex she had closed her exceptionally powerful fist around his windpipe. She quickly withdrew her hand before the man she was developing feelings for keeled over from oxygen deprivation. "Oh gods, I am so sorry, Lee! I didn't mean to do that, I must have been having a nightmare…" one that she couldn't remember anything about, other than it scared the hell out of her, she had told the others of this recurring nightmare. Of course, she had no idea how she knew it was the same one over and over again, since she couldn't remember, but she just _knew_. "Are you okay, Lee-kun?"

Lee grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head with his one arm. He refrained from touching his throat in front of Sakura; he didn't want her to feel bad. _Any longer and she would've crushed my neck…whew…_ "Yes, I'm okay Sakura-chan. We were getting up to continue our journey and I saw that you were having a nightmare. So I decided to wake you early…" Lee hesitated.

Sakura smiled warmly. Lee worrying over her made her feel all warm inside, "It's okay Lee-kun. It was the same nightmare, but I'll be okay." She leaned over and quickly kissed his cheek before getting up and hurrying over to where Tenten was reinserting all her scrolls in the loops of her pants and belt.

Lee suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder that made him jump. Turning around he saw that it was Naruto, "Um… Naruto-san! What is it?"

Naruto had one of his foxy grins plastered on his face, "Dude you've been sitting there with this dumb expression on your face for the past five minutes. You know seriously, I thought you and Sakura must of done more than just her kissing your cheek, but if that's enough to stun you I wonder what would happen if she just laid one on ya."

"Uh, buh… no… but, we… uh…" Lee couldn't stop stuttering… it had been five minutes!? He hadn't even noticed. He _had_ kissed Sakura, _really_ kissed her. It had been their first kiss, that morning outside the barn they had slept in when escaping from Bushi. Of course, they hadn't kissed since then, or even hugged really… so he guessed that was the reason behind his astonishment when she kissed him on the cheek. In truth, he wasn't sure how she felt about him right now. They hadn't really gotten the chance to sit down and actually talk about it in length. Their entire time had been spent mostly with running through Earth country, running from Rock Nin, running through the mountains, etc… He wasn't going to give up of course; it wasn't in him to just give into despair and worry. He would talk to her soon hopefully, and hopefully they'd both be able to sort out their feelings for each other then. Right now, they were heading up the mountain face and towards that pass.

They needed to reach it by the time the sun went down, or according to Naruto, some really weird and bad stuff was going to happen… maybe… definitely weird though… yeah,

* * *

"Hokage-sama, I'm sorry to interrupt your meeting, but… Nara Shikamaru is here to see you… uh, he says it's urgent…" 

Tsunade had not time to tell the doorman to tell Shikamaru that he would have to wait, for right then the dark haired ninja pushed past the chuunin-doorman and closed the door in the man's spluttering face.

Shikamaru calmly turned around after shutting the doorman out and faced the three ninja currently in the Hokage's office. Tsunade sat behind her desk as usual, while Jiraiya lounged against a wall, or was, he was now standing up in surprise from Shikamaru forcing his way into the office. Hatake Kakashi was standing in the middle of the room, now facing Shikamaru, a look of curiosity in his one exposed eye.

Tsunade did not feel surprised, or curious at all. She, Kakashi and Jiraiya were having an important discussion about Neji and his team protecting Naruto when Shikamaru decided it was alright to burst in without consent. Whatever it was that Shikamaru thought was so important, it could wait until after she was done discussing probably the most important thing to affect their village; except maybe the oncoming war. What she felt was a rising anger. Angry Tsunade usually equaled bad in most people's opinions.

Tsunade slowly stood up from her desk, a vein standing out plainly on her forehead and a small tick in her right eye betrayed her anger to anyone who had any brains or intuition at all. Jiraiya started making shooing motions towards Shikamaru to get him out the door before Tsunade did something rash… or harmful to the young jounin.

How dare he? She was the Hokage, whatever a jounin, who didn't even bother going on most missions in favor of staying home and teaching at the academy, thought was important could _wait._ She had not given permission for him to barge in on their discussion.

The tick in Tsunade's right eye grew a little, "Nara Shikamaru, who the _hell_ do you think you…?"

"Don't bother _Obaa-chan_, you can't threaten me with anything and you can't reprimand me with anything, when it is I, who should be reprimanding you."

Tsunade's eyes bulged, "_Excuse_ me? What the _fuck_ did you just say?" and the stupid little pineapple haired boy had the audacity to look smug and even angry about what he just said!

Jiraiya stepped in, "Whoa whoa, there people. Uh, Shikamaru, is it? Look, we're in the middle of a very important discussion right now, so whatever you have to say can probably wait. Okay? And seriously, Tsunade-hime has been your Hokage long enough for you people to know not to get her angry, right? I think its best you go wait outside before the Hokage gets any angrier at you." Jiraiya put his hand on the boy's shoulder… though he was of the same height as the tall Sannin, and tried to lead him to the door. But, was surprised and then angered when Shikamaru angrily slapped his hand away.

Jiraiya was now angry enough to willingly allow Tsunade to maul the boy. He had heard that the young genius prodigy of Konoha was named Shikamaru… this boy was clearly not him. "Look pal, I was trying to help you out, but fine. You want to piss off your Hokage? Then by all means, feel free to do so, just know I won't be helping you out when she starts to strangle you."

Shikamaru glared at the Sannin, "Whatever, old man." He turned back to the now fuming Tsunade, who was now opening her mouth to scream at him.

"YOU LITTLE…!"

"I know that Naruto is alive, and that Neji, Tenten, Lee, Sakura and Hinata are alive as well." Tsunade choked, literally and started coughing as she tried to stare bewildered at him and keep herself from hocking up a lung. Jiraiya's angry expression changed to one that matched Tsunade's, except without the coughing, and Kakashi looked on with a wary look in his eye. In the ensuing silence Shikamaru continued, "I also know that you three already know this, and that you're keeping it from the entire village and everyone else for that matter."

Shikamaru held up a hand to stall Jiraiya as he opened his mouth to try and explain or deny, it didn't matter, "Don't bother lying, I know the truth and nothing you say is going to change that; and don't bother explaining, I already know why you did it, its to protect Naruto." Shikamaru shook his head in disbelief, "You know, if I hadn't grieved for so long I would've figured it out sooner, but you really should have known that I, probably the most intelligent person in this village, would figure it out." There was no mocking in his voice when he stated he was the most intelligent, it was just a statement of fact.

Shikamaru didn't bother telling them that Gaara also knew, he had promised the Kazekage that he would keep that secret for him. Matter of fact, when he had decided to confront Tsunade about it, he hadn't planned on it being like this. He hadn't even been positive that Kakashi and Jiraiya were in on it, but he was pretty sure, and so, as usual, he went with his gut feeling. Of course, he hadn't expected himself to stop thinking and just barge into the Hokage's office and confront them with the knowledge he had attainted. But, he had, and there was no way of changing it now, plus he was performing a very useful maneuver in chess. A lightning fast attack that put your opponent off balance long enough for you to gain the upper advantage. Not that Tsunade, Jiraiya or Kakashi were his opponents or anything, but the same principle applied in this situation.

Shikamaru didn't give them anytime to recuperate, "Now that you know that I know about Naruto, I want in. I want to know what's happened to him in the past nine months. Where he's been hiding, and why you suddenly decided it was time to fake his and his teammates deaths. Also, I want to know why you had to hide him from Orochimaru and Akatsuki in the first place. It would be in your best interest to include me into your little clique, not because I'll go and tell if you don't, Naruto's safety is more important to me than that, but because you can use this…" Shikamaru took one finger and poked his head.

Shikamaru crossed his arms, and went back to his lazy act and put on an expression of pure boredom, "So, what do you say? Whatever it is you're planning about Naruto, or about the war, or whatever, you can use my knowledge, and more importantly, you probably want to." He wasn't being arrogant, merely practical, he just hoped they saw it that way too.

Tsunade stared a little bit longer, hoping for a moment that this was all just a figment of her imagination… it didn't go away, it was real. Tsunade shook her head vigorously, attempting to clear the stunned feeling that was clouding her mind. She succeeded only a little bit, but enough to go over what Shikamaru had said. He knew about Naruto being alive, he also knew that they lied about his death in order to protect him. He also figured out that it was she, Jiraiya, and Kakashi who knew this secret.

Now that she thought about it, Shikamaru _was_ the most intelligent person in Konoha. A year or so after Naruto had left for his training trip with Jiraiya, Tsunade had gotten Shikamaru to take a more advanced version of the IQ test, one that was meant for people with IQs higher than two hundred. When the results came back in she had been so stunned with Shikamaru that she had only told him he was officially the most intelligent person in Konoha, she didn't know if he should know his actual IQ or not. It was that high. Nara Shikamaru had an IQ of 284…

With an IQ of nearly three hundred, Tsunade realized how stupid she had been in not realizing that Shikamaru could've been an asset, and not only that, but someone so intelligent would have figured out the secret of Naruto's 'death'. It wasn't that she didn't think he would puzzle it out, it was jus that with so much going on she had merely forgotten to think about him. No one but herself and the machine that graded his paper, knew his exact IQ, so it was not surprise that Jiraiya was as surprised as she. Kakashi though seemed to be taking it well… of course he had a mask hiding three-quarters of his face too.

She didn't like admitting to herself that she was wrong about something, matter of fact she _hated_ it, but Shikamaru was right. They could use his thinking prowess to the utmost, and he would be more than just valuable in formulating plans for defense and offense strategies in the upcoming war. Tsunade had a sudden vision of Shikamaru as, not only the General of Konoha, but of Fire Country. This war would be the ultimate test and display of his mind power; Nara Shikamaru – Tsunade now realized – was actually the most powerful weapon that Konoha could possess against the threat of Sound Country.

Tsunade looked up slowly at the Nara standing before her, tall and looking bored, Tsunade could see the iron determination in his eyes. He may not tell anyone about this in order to protect Naruto, but he was going to do something, probably rash, if she didn't accept. Well, she had already made up her mind anyways, "… very well… Nara Shikamaru, you are now officially apart of the team that will figure out Konoha's defenses and general war strategies, you are also now a part of out little group here. Everything we talk about, unless you are told otherwise, is to be kept between us. No one, and I mean absolutely no _one_ can know that Naruto is still alive. In exchange we'll tell you everything we know about why Orochimaru and Akatsuki are after Naruto, and you'll be fully a part of our planning. Do you accept these terms?"

Jiraiya and Kakashi both were openly staring at Tsunade. After Shikamaru had practically demanded that he be let in on Naruto's secrets, Tsunade had just sat quietly staring at her desk for nearly five minutes. Both men had been sure she was complementing ways to tell Shikamaru 'No' and to find away to either kill him or imprison him… well not really, but she would find a way to suspend him for his duties and detain him in Konoha. What came out of her mouth though was an agreement to Shikamaru's demands, something both men had not been expecting at all. Jiraiya would've agreed with his ex-teammate if she had said no, only because Shikamaru pissed him off, but Kakashi had been ready to defend the pineapple-haired Nin and to point out the merits of accepting him onto the team if Tsunade had denied the Nara.

Shikamaru merely nodded. Secretly, he was inwardly sighing in relief, he knew if the Hokage had said no he was would've been in some really deep trouble. But, he had to go through with it, Naruto was his friend, and he was the best Chess player in Konoha. Chess was a game that was originally made for formulating war strategies, making him possibly the best strategist in the village. "Alright, are you going to explain to me why you guys suddenly decided to declare Naruto dead? I'd like to be up to date before we start discussing things."

Tsunade looked towards Jiraiya and nodded, giving him the go ahead, "I'm pretty sure he can handle the truth about Naruto."

Jiraiya shrugged and sighed, this kid had to be really special if they were letting him in on this. Oh well, the boy was apart of their team now, he deserved to know what was going on.

"Alright, tough-stuff, I guess I should start from the beginning. You see about seventeen years ago, when Naruto was born…"

* * *

The sun was just disappearing behind the horizon. Naruto stared at the setting sun with trepidation and anticipation, creating a strange nervous feeling in his stomach that he was sure was going to make him sick. 

They had climbed all day long, pushing as hard as they safely could. Most of them had small cuts and bruises all over their bodies, with their clothes scuffed and dirt stained in many places as well. They had reached a sudden plateau that stretched into the mountains between two massively tall peaks that Naruto was now able to see. They had finally reached the pass to the other side of the mountain range, and it seemed they had made it in time.

Naruto stood at the edge of the plateau where there was a sudden drop off with few handholds for climbing. Luckily they were all ninja, and made the climb without the need of climbing gear or equipment, although, it had been far from easy. Naruto looked down, and not ten feet below him was the roiling gray clouds of that strange cloud layer.

Naruto shivered, moving through the couple hundred or so feet of that had been horrifying.

* * *

_Gray coldness swirled around them._

_Naruto had been expecting the clouds to be like fog and to partially block his view of things. But, amazingly they could see far enough to clearly see everyone in their group. Something that was comforting in a not so comforting place._

_What was getting to Naruto though was the way the gray tendrils of fog, if that was what it was, would cling to his skin and coat as he passed through them. That, plus how cold and clammy the air felt on his skin, as if something dead was touching him all over…_

_Neji and Hinata had both revealed that their Byakugan could only see a few feet in every direction, and only about twenty feet straight ahead when they focused the bloodlimit. So now, they didn't even know how close they were to getting through this stuff. _

_Naruto didn't actually see it in his peripheral vision, but he _felt_ it. He whipped his head around so fast he hurt his neck… nothing was there, and he was positive something had moved. Or… as positive as someone who hadn't actually seen something move, but felt something there._

_Hinata gasped suddenly as she twisted around to look behind her. Neji stopped and looked back, "What is it Hinata-cha…!?" Neji turned to his left so quickly he was a black and white blur, "I swear I almost saw something move over there…" He pointed in the direction he was looking._

_Naruto frowned, "Yeah same here." Hinata nodded as well._

_Tenten suddenly gasped and turned at the same time Sakura did, both of them looking in the opposite direction of Neji. Tenten moved closer to Neji, "W-what was that?"_

_Lee moved closer to Sakura without realizing it, "M-maybe it was just a rabbit, or a squirrel."_

_Naruto shook his head, and continued looking out into the fog, "You know for once, Lee, I really do wish it was a just a squirrel. But, right now I think we should keep moving and get through this."_

_Neji nodded and motioned for everyone to keep moving. Naruto reached behind him and felt Hinata's hand grasp his and squeeze tightly with nervous fingers. Naruto squeezed back reassuringly. Whatever it was, Naruto was sure it was not some cute furry rodent._

_Every step they took forward, more and more often they would feel something on the edge of their vision, and after only a little while they began to actually _see_… something… at the corner of their eyes._

_Naruto felt goosebumps erupt up and down his body as the feeling of watching eyes filled the cold clammy air. Everyone else felt it too, and everyone stopped whipping their eyes back and forth, trying to see what was watching them._

_Seconds ticked by, and the feeling of being watched grew stronger and stronger, until it felt as if the watchers were coming closer, and closer. Naruto's breathing became shallow and ragged as he felt cold ice form in the pit of his stomach… the eyes grew in number and strength, and grew, and grew, and…_

"_N-n-neji…" _

…_and grew, and grew…_

"_Neji! I really think its time we…"_

Something _brushed up against his arm and at the same time something… something not human… screamed in the distance._

_Everyone broke and ran at once._

_He could _see_ them now, he couldn't make them out, but they were paralleling them and keeping up. Oh, and there was more than one._

_Hinata's hand squeezed spasmodically on his as the sensation of something trying to grab him and all the others heightened with each step they took. _

_Naruto looked behind at Hinata and then quickly jerked her forward so she was ahead of him. They were running behind them as well and starting to get closer. He looked forward, "AAAAaaahhhhHHhh, SHIT!!" _**Something**_ had been right in front of his face, and then disappeared as quickly as it appeared. He wasn't sure what it was, his mind was having trouble forming a picture of it in his head, as if his mind couldn't actually handle what he had just seen._

_At his scream they all ran faster. The watchers seemed to increase their speed as well, and the feeling of eyes watching and things grabbing them grew and grew…_

_Hands on his arms, his ankles, grabbing his coat and getting caught in his hair. Something screamed in his ear and when he looked all he could see were the shapes in the fog getting closer and closer._

_Naruto wanted to close his eyes as they got closer and closer to leaving the fog, because the closer they came, the more they could see of their pursuers. Naruto felt a very animal instinct that told him not to look, that if he did he would regret it for the rest of his life, that something very bad would happen, something so terrible his mind refused to think on it. _

_Pale skin, a hand… maybe, something that looked like… eyes…or maybe a mouth… or mouths…_

_Naruto looked away, staring straight ahead. That was the only place where the watchers weren't located, but no matter what he did, they became more and more clear in the corner of his eyes, and he felt fear stab into his heart… no, into _Kyuubi's_ and his heart._

_Whatever these things were, Kyuubi knew of them… and he was terrified of them. _

_The terror gripped Naruto's heart as he began to hear things he had never wanted to hear in his life. _

_Voices. Human voices. They were screaming, begging for mercy, pleading for help, threatening murder and torture in the worst ways. And amongst those screams of agony was the inhuman keening and something that sounded like wet rags being dropped on the ground over and over again in rapid succession, and the sound of something wet and heavy being dragged along rocky ground. A part of Naruto's mind registered that as the sounds of the watchers moving._

_Kyuubi started to scream inside of Naruto's mind, and attempted to huddle as far away from that noise and the human screaming as possible, __**Don't listen… oh gods, don't listen!! **__Children's voices were being added to the cacophony… children in pain and screaming for help._

_The fact that Kyuubi was freaking out and had actually deferred to a higher power than him self scared Naruto more than the watchers. _

_Naruto and everyone else began to scream as everywhere around them the keening and screams of agony grew to a deafening roar._

* * *

Naruto swallowed audibly at those memories that had only happened about half an hour ago, and felt shivers and goosebumps run up and down his back and arms. Kyuubi had been frighteningly silent ever since they had left the fog. Naruto felt cold inside and out, a cold that wouldn't be driven away by warm blankets or a fire. 

He didn't know what that fog was, or what was in it, but didn't want to put a single toe into it as long as he lived, and afterwards as well. He turned back from the fog and walked to huddle with his friends.

Everyone was exhausted and had the same harrowed look in their eyes. They were all terrified, and no one wanted to go within hundred feet of the fog when they decided to sleep tonight. Naruto personally wouldn't mind being on the other side of the world from those things and that fog.

Naruto erased the fog from his mind as he reached down to touch Hinata's face and run his fingers along her cheeks. She was lying on her back, eyes closed and sweat pouring down her face like little rivers. She twitched occasionally and a frown would form on her brows and then disappear as soon as it came, and then form again. Everyone was crouched down around her, forming a protective circle of warm bodies.

She had simply passed out not fifteen minutes after they had gotten out of the fog, and no amount of shaking and yelling her name had woken her up. Naruto was getting nervous, Kyuubi had only spoken enough to let him know that Shichubi had probably woken up and was now preparing for the ritual, but then he had fallen silent again, and no amount of mental nudging would get Kyuubi to talk some more. Whatever it was that had been in the fog had apparently affected Kyuubi deeply, and he didn't want to talk about it.

Naruto went back to studying Hinata's face, felt worry nearly overwhelm him. He hadn't had a chance to comfort her, to say how much he loved her, or to even say goodbye just incase. And now, all he could do was watch and hope for the best when the sun rose again.

Hinata twitched again, and Naruto could only wonder what was happening in her mind.

* * *

**A/N:** Alright hope eveyone enjoyed this one. Don't have much to say, other than sorry that there wasn't a whole lot of action in this one. Oh and for those of you who seem worried about the development of some of the characters (cough Tenten cough) don't worry, everyone has amjor parts in this story, some just take longer to get to.

Well, don't have much else to say, mostly cause I'm rushing this since I have to leave for the rigors of work in about fifteen minutes. Until next time!

**Chapter Preview:** What happens when the mortal and immortal clash...


	28. World in Black and White

**A/N: **Heya everybody. Long time no see and what not. Well, I've updated, and I don't think I really need to go into detail why this one took me so long. Suffice it to say, I don't have a job right now... woot, freedom.

Also, before getting to the story, i wanted everyone to know that I now have my own forum on this website, up and running. It has to deal with my current stories on this sight, and I may add other threads, we'll see. So if you want to head over there and start posting stuff about my stories and what not, feel free to do so. I check my forums everyday, you can find it by clicking on the link on my profile, which you'll also see has also been updated. Yay... Gadalla is actually doing stuff... yay.

Alright anyways, that's enough for now. I'm sure you're aching to get to reading, so I'll leave you to it.

Enjoy!

**(p.s.)** don't forget to reveiw please! where you can freely swear at me for not updating sooner XD

* * *

**Chapter 28: World in Black and White**

She was surrounded by something, and yet, nothing. As far as she could see there was nothing here but whiteness; a world of white. It felt solid, after all she was standing on it, but she cast no shadow and could see no end. There was no horizon where land met sky, or any indication that there was anything resembling those things anyways. She was alone… oh, and she was naked.

Hinata blushed brilliantly and let out a little squeak as she tried to cover herself, her high pitched "squeak" seemed to be swallowed by the whiteness, as if it were muffled, but she could still hear echoes of her voice as if she stood in some great cavern. There was no one to see her, but she could _feel_ something watching. She looked around her, trying in vain to see what it was that could be looking at her, but it was to no avail. Whatever it was, it seemed to be looking at her from all angles, it felt as if it were looking _through_ her. Meaning her meager attempts to hide herself were utterly useless. Hinata blushed all the more at that thought.

_**Do not be so frightened. I don't bite… much…**_

Hinata gasped and completely forgot about her attempts at modesty in her shock. "W-who… who are you?" Hinata frowned at the thin high voice that echoed around her, she sounded like she was still thirteen, like she had not even a year ago. But she was indeed frightened, she couldn't see what was looking at her, and she didn't really know where she was. She didn't think this was her own mindscape, it was too… empty. Naruto had described his own mindscape to her on multiple occasions, the sewers in his head at least actually sounded like a place. This… this felt like she was nowhere.

_**That's because you are nowhere, little one. At this moment your mind exists outside of time. Time neither moves nor even stops here, it just doesn't exist. **_

Hinata frowned, the voice sounded warm and feminine, with a certain amount of iron underneath. As if whoever was behind this voice was used to being in command, or respected. It was a voice used to power, but it was gentle as well. It was niggling something in the back of her head, she recognized it as if from a memory of a memory. She swallowed the lump in her throat and stood up straight, trying to ignore her nakedness, "Who are you? And why am I here?"

Whatever it was chuckled softly, a sound that filled the white void completely. _**My my, aren't we the brave one now? You can't seem to remember who or what I am, but you put on such a brave face. Here, let me show you.**_

Hinata felt a presence behind her, as if the eyes that had been watching her from all angles were now only watching her from behind. She turned slowly, not sure she was quite ready to see what was behind the disembodied voice. After all, disembodied voices couldn't hurt you. It took her a moment of staring to realize what she was looking at, for it looked to be a part of its surroundings, yet definitely apart from them. It was white, covered in lavender colored stripes 

and it was _huge_. Hinata didn't need to count the mass of writhing tails behind the massive thing to now know who she was speaking to.

"…Shichubi."

The massive feline face seemed to 'smile' at the mention of its name. Two lavender cat eyes stared at her from untold heights. _**Yes, I am Shichubi, the one who has plagued your family for centuries. I would ask if you despise me for being the reason your mother died so young, but I've been living in your subconscious for many years now and I already know that you don't… mostly. **_Shichubi 'spoke' without moving her mouth, her voice ringing off none existent walls all around Hinata.

At the mention of her mother, Hinata suddenly realized why Shichubi's voice sounded so familiar. It had been years since she had heard the sound of that voice; it wasn't the same voice, far from it, but it sounded like it came from almost the same person, like a sister or her grandmother that she had never met. "You sound like my mother."

Again the massive feline face smiled, showing some fang this time, but there was no fear in Hinata, the smile – if it could be called that – was gentle, cultured and almost… loving. Just like her voice.

_**Yes, I suppose I do sound like her don't I? In fact I probably also sound like your grandmother, your great grandmother, your great grandmother's aunt, and so on and so forth; all the way back to the day when the original, powerless, Hyuugas imprisoned me inside the daughter of the original head of the clan. I've spent my entire life with all those women all through their entire lives. All of them chosen by me, but restricted by blood. So you, Hinata, are directly related to the great ancestor that gave your family one of the first doujutsu abilities in the ninja world.**_ _**I sound like your mother Hinata, because I am like your mother. She possessed the personal qualities – and the royal blood – that would make her into a great woman, and someone I would be willing to share my existence with till the day she died.**_

Hinata stared dumbfounded. She knew about the truth of her family history and the secret behind the Byakugan, but she hadn't known that Shichubi got to choose her own hosts within the main branch family; all those close to the clan head no less. She had thought it was always the oldest daughter or something like that. The seven-tailed feline was not done however.

_**Now Hinata, do you know why I chose you to inhabit? Why I did not choose a close first cousin or even your own sister?**_

Hinata shook her head slowly, "N-no. I'm not great like my mother was, so I don't know why you would've chosen me over someone as skilled as my little sister."

Again that all encompassing chuckle, soft as silk but as big as… well, a fifty-story cat demon. _**Yes indeed, your sister is very skilled and very talented, in her own way. But when I speak of **_

_**greatness I do not talk of strength or skill at arms, bravery or an iron will. Hinata, I speak of kindness. You are most like your mother, who was most like her mother before her. People capable of showing the amount of care and affection to those around them, like you and your mother before you, have my respect, are most like me, and most importantly are most compatible with me. I had to find hosts of like mind and personality in order sync with them easily. **_

Shichubi sighed sadly. _**Those whose souls did not match my own died very early and very violently. The closer a soul's 'frequency' matches my own, the longer my hosts can live with the massive amounts of demonic energy living inside of their bodies.**_

Now Hinata really was speechless. She was believed to be great by an almost nigh omnipotent demon because of her _kindness_. Not only that, instead of seeking revenge on the Hyuuga family, the once high and mighty demon chose hosts that would live longer and more fulfilling lives than the others that she could've of chosen if she had chosen them. If that wasn't kindness she didn't know what was. "Um… th-thanks?"

Shichubi smiled at that. _**You're very welcome… though you wouldn't have been if you knew of my existence and were still going to die because of me. I suppose you and I are very lucky that our lovers came to our much needed 'rescue'. **_Shichubi made very human gesture of rolling her eyes, _**Yet another reason for Kyuubi to laze about and have me do chores for him. I can hear it now "… but I saved your life remember? So just make me a sandwich already." **_

Hinata stifled a giggle at the very un-Kyuubi sounding voice, and the very human situation of Kyuubi trying to get his mate to make him some food. Though, now that Hinata thought about it, it would probably be her making Naruto ramen. The thought wasn't really that bad, she wanted to cook for him, as long as he didn't try and get her to do it _all_ the time. She stopped her musings to focus back on Shichubi, "How long have you and Kyuubi… you know, been together?"

_**Oh… many, many millennia. You wouldn't believe me if I told you, suffice it say, it was before you species was standing up straight when Kyuubi and I fell in love. **_Shichubi crouched down so that she lowered her massive head and leveled it with Hinata. _**But sadly, I did not bring you here for pleasantries sake or to speak of your family and our relationship with the Kyuubi boy. I brought you here for a very express purpose, one that must happen so that you are not destroyed or at the very least driven insane from the massive amounts of chakra and memories you are about to receive. **_

Hinata nodded, remembering full well why she was here. Dread and overwhelming nervousness threatened to overcome her. She had been avoiding thinking about this moment during their entire trek through Earth Country and through the Northern Mountains as much as possible, but now that the moment was upon her she could feel her insides clenching at the thought of not knowing how things would turn out.

Shichubi seemed to sense her tenet's discomfort. _**You don't need to worry too much, little one. The seal I've been working hard on for the past two weeks should allow our souls to fully merge with one another without dealing too much damage in the process. I am going to tell you now that it will not be pleasant, and most likely extremely painful. Not to mention that no matter how kind I may like to think I am, I am still a demon, Hinata. I have done some truly horrible things by human standards, and you will remember these things as if you had done them yourself. You will still retain who you are deep down inside due to our souls being very much alike, but you will become ruthless and as hard as iron when it comes to protecting those you care for. You may even seem cruel to those who don't know you. Not to mention that me being a demon will increase your instincts and senses by a much greater margin than you now possess. **_

Shichubi paused a moment to let that all sink in before continuing, _**In the end Hinata, you and I will probably never speak like this ever again, where it's just you and me sitting in your mindscape or some other place such as this. You and I will become **_**one**_** with each other, one being, one mind, and one soul. You **_**and **_**I will be half Hinata and half Shichubi, half human and half demon. If we do speak with each other, it will be like talking to yourself in your head with two very distinct voices, both coming from the same mind, though at the same time both may have different opinions. Sort of like arguing with yourself about something you can't seem to decide on.**_

Hinata only nodded her head. This was a lot to take in, but she didn't feel confused, not right now. She felt sad. This was the very first time she was finally able to meet the being that had been living inside of her almost all of her life, and now she would not only merge with her, but she would have to say goodbye as well. Even though they would be merging into one brand new being that shared both their characteristics, something she was still nervous about but was resigned to do, it would not be the same as how Naruto had described his own relationship with the nine-tails. Either way, Hinata was going to do this, she had to.

_**Your very genetic makeup will be affected as well and you will be officially labeled a half demon amongst your peers. You will also have the power of a half demon as well. Including slightly increased speed, strength and endurance, and of course the ability to summon vast amounts of chakra. Your chakra will become mixed with mine and will become one pool of energy instead of two separate pools that you had to pull on separately. **_

Shichubi stopped and pointed one massive cat claw at Hinata, _**Be forewarned though, Hinata. Though your body will become physically enhanced and your chakra coils will become much larger and far hardier, **_**our**_** body will still be the body of a human. You and I will not be able to summon all of our chakra at once; it would be too dangerous, and even with the healing factor that my own chakra would grant you, too much chakra and our body would be torn apart. Do you understand?**_

Hinata nodded that she did. It would be like Naruto who could only summon enough of Kyuubi's chakra to form three of his tails. Anymore and his own excessive amounts of chakra would begin to damage his body.

Shichubi stood back up from her crouching position, _**It is time to activate the seal that I created.**_

Hinata frowned, "Time? I thought we were outside of time here." She was pleased to hear that her voice had returned to full strength, no more quavering or stuttering. She no longer feared Shichubi, now knowing that the great cat demon would probably never harm her even if she could.

Shichubi shook her head. _**Yes we are, but I also cannot keep us here indefinitely. I need mine and yours energies to be at their best in order for us to endure the merging process. Plus I need the chakra to activate the seal as well, it's extremely complicated, and extremely powerful.**_

Hinata noticed that Shichubi's demeanor had changed from caring and confident to one that was uncertain and almost… sad. "Shichubi? Is everything okay?"

Shichubi looked at Hinata for a moment with those huge lavender eyes, and closed them with a huge sigh, before opening them again and responding. _**It's just… you and I will be merged into one new being that is comprised of both of us. I will be free again in a sense, but… Kyuubi... It has been **_**centuries**_** since I've last spoke with him much less spent time with him. Centuries, Hinata, and though I know I will see him and talk with him again as part of you, now that I'm free I will never get to see him again as just him and just me. It will be the new you and me spending time with the being that your own Naruto and my Kyuubi are becoming. **_

Hinata could understand such sadness, she too after all was not too hot on becoming one with a demon, even if it would make her powerful enough to protect her friends. But, the thought of not being able to be just Hinata and spending time with Naruto hurt. It would not be like it was at the tree house and the years before, though at the same time, she did not doubt that it would be almost exactly the same. The same feelings the same things said and done… but it wouldn't be just her… it would be the Hinata she was about to become.

Hinata walked up and laid her hand on one massive paw, causing Shichubi to smile slightly, "At least, we still have our memories, right?"

Shichubi nodded in agreement, _**Yes, we still have those and always will.**_ The giant seven-tailed cat seemed to regain most of her vigor, _**and I suppose it won't be all too bad, it's still going to be Kyuubi I'll be seeing, even if it's in the body of a blond human, and you will still have your Naruto, even though he's practically half demon himself. **_

Hinata smiled and nodded as well, then set her shoulders determinedly "I suppose that we should get this over with, huh?"

White light began to emanate from the 'ground' beneath them. How Hinata could tell it was white light in a void of pure white, she could not tell, but indeed it was. Surrounding them was seal that was too large to make out from her vantage point, but yet Hinata knew exactly what it looked like. It was comprised of five circles interlocked together, surrounding both her and the massive demon. Within each circle was a complex array of seals, diagrams and symbols that seemed to move and twist as she looked at them. There was a sixth circle the encompassed all the others, making sure each complex seal remained part of the whole grand seal, and then there was the final seventh circle. It connected and went through all of the other five inner circles and within was a staggering and bizarre array of seals and strange runes that twisted and writhed under them and yet never lost cohesion. It was the most complex seal Hinata had ever seen. Naruto would have drooled to put it bluntly.

_**Yes, I suppose we should. Hang on, Hinata, this is not going to be pleasant.**_

* * *

Naruto stared down at the seemingly sleeping form of Hinata. He was worried, and he had cause to be. She was sweating, though her skin was clammy and cold, and her body kept twitching as if she were having a bad dream; and now all of a sudden she had started breathing hard, as if panting and was visibly shaking.

Naruto crouched down next to his love, his mate, and all time companion, and tried to hold her hand. "SSsssssshiiit!" Naruto pulled back his hand as if it were never extended and sucked on his fingers. She was no longer clammy and cold as she had been not five minutes ago.

Sakura frowned and edged around Hinata towards Naruto to get a look at his fingers, "What is it Naruto?"

Naruto gestured with his good hand towards the shaking Hinata, "Her skin is burning hot! I mean, really, _burning_ hot." He pulled out his burned hand out of his mouth to show Sakura as she crouched down next to him.

Sakura hissed between her teeth, the burns went all the way down to his finger bones. She would have applied some healing chakra, but she could see the red chakra already seeping out of his wounds and begin healing the burns. "You're fine. But I don't think it's smart to touch Hinata anymore right now if her skin is that hot." Sakura looked over at the prone form of the Hyuuga girl and frowned worriedly. She knew what was happening… in a very general way, but it was enough to make her worry for the girl she considered to be practically her sister. She would have tried to diagnose her with a scanning jutsu, but Neji and Naruto had both told her that this was not something she could help Hinata with and it was best if they didn't try to meddle in anyway. Sakura bit her lip, she didn't like not being able to help someone; it's why she had become a medic after all, wasn't it?

"Don't worry about her, Sakura-san. Hinata-chan is strong, she can handle this."

Sakura looked away from the feverish looking Hinata to see Naruto smiling sadly at her. He was worried, she could see it in his eyes, but he was still putting on such a strong face. She would too, for his sake, and everyone else's. Even hers.

"Uh… umm… guys? _Guys_!?"

Everyone looked up to see Tenten standing towards the end of the pass that they had just come from with her back towards them, and slowly, with increasing speed, was currently backing towards them.

Naruto looked past her at what she was looking at, and then felt his heart drop into his stomach. _Oh shit._ The fog, that scary-as-fuck freaking fog, was not sitting docile ten feet beneath the mountain pass like some creepy gray lake… like it was supposed to. Naruto could see it _writhing_ like some living creature as it fluctuated and undulated chaotically, reaching up and into the mountain pass, as if it were trying to reach them, just before it dragged itself back down again. "Well. That's not good." Naruto's words were a lot calmer sounding than he felt at that moment.

Neji stood up quickly from his sitting position. He had been tired and exhausted, not to mention shaken up a bit from their little trip through that fog, so he didn't currently have his Byakugan activated. He would've noticed this if he had. "Naruto we need to relocate somewhere farther into the pass."

Naruto looked at Neji then at Hinata, who was giving off visible steam now as her own sweat evaporated instantly and the very air around her was beginning to shimmer with barely contained heat. "… and how, dear brother, are we going to be moving Hinata?" Naruto gestured to the super-furnace that was his fiancé, "Last time I checked Hinata's probably hot enough now to melt steel on contact."

Neji shook his head, mostly in agitation, but also to get rid of the memories, if the fog kept this up they were going to be in a bit of trouble. There was no way he wanted to deal with whatever had been watching them as they ran through that dank cold mist. "I don't… I don't know Naruto, but I really do not want to have to deal with that unnatural fog again. If you share the same opinion, then I suggest we find someway of moving Hinata so that we are able to move deeper into the mountains and away from _that_." Neji made a show of pointing at the fog that only seemed to be writhing more and more violently as the minutes passed and the very last rays of sunlight disappeared over the horizon. "Is there any seal in your repertoire that can help move Hinata without getting any of us seriously injured or killed?"

Naruto wracked his mind… or more specifically the part of his mind that his Zenseigan had all of the seals it had copied, stored. It was almost like a catalogue, where he could literally just think of something he'd want to do and the seal formation, with all of its variances, would be there, picture perfect in his mind's eye. He always wondered if this is how anybody with the infamous Sharingan felt when deciding on what jutsu to use or something like that. He found 

what he was looking for. It was a seal that had to deal with the wind element, and though it was meant for quick instantaneous use, he was sure he could tweak it for a more constant, gentler flow. Naruto flinched involuntarily, this was going to hurt. His eyes had been bothering him because of overuse ever since those asshole Iwa-nin had finally broken off their little pursuit. Again, he wondered if someone like Itachi or the Hyuugas went through similar dilemmas with their own doujutsus.

Naruto activated the bloodline of his family, his pupils turning white and fanning out into nine-pointed stars on fields of azure. The moment he placed the seal through air-writing though, he felt a strange… 'resonance' was the best word. Something clicked in his brain just a split-second too late when he realized what was happening.

"AAaaaaaaaRRrrgghh! Fuck!" Naruto deactivated the Zenseigan reflexively and covered his eyes with his hands, as if that would stop the pain that was now wracking the back of his eye-sockets.

It took him a moment to realize, but someone was kneeling next to him and trying to pull him up from his prone position. He had fallen to his knees and had curled upon himself in a near fetal position. He didn't even remember doing that. Just the white-blind pain that came on him so suddenly and seemed to leave as soon as he turned off the Zenseigan. But the phantom of the pain was still there, it was the most intense mind-numbing sensations he had ever felt, and he sure as hell did not want to do that again. Naruto looked up, and was glad for a moment that he could still see, then got pissed at the fact that everything seemed to remain blurry to him. Like someone had taken a wet painting and wiped their hand across it, smudging all the colors together. "Ah, Shit…" He at least recognized the shock of pink looking at him. He was sure the two green smears were Sakura's eyes.

Neji was there beside him too, "Naruto, what happened? Hinata seemed to start floating on what looked like blowing air for a moment, then dropped back down when you started screaming."

Naruto shook his head, memory coming back at what had happened exactly. Because of the Zenseigan he knew all the technicalities behind what had just happened to him and why it happened, but he would just give them the short version. "There's a much more powerful and much more complex seal activated around, on, or in Hinata. Trying to form, or even activating any seal around her will cause a kinda 'disharmony' between the seal formations, causing the weaker and less complex seals to backfire or go haywire, or in my case, fuck up my eyes."

Sakura looked on, barely comprehending, but Neji seemed to understand the simplified explanation. Which was good, Naruto didn't have time and didn't really feel like getting into energy fluctuation, formation inconsistencies, chakra distribution, circle equations or etc… Terms that only a qualified seal master would know, or someone who already qualified due to the potent doujutsu that Naruto possessed. The thing seemed to store any technical jargon that he had read up on seals as well, and due to it allowing him to fundamentally understand the outs and 

ins of seals, he knew what the terms applied to as well. Handy, but not really helping him with the painful eye problem at the moment.

Neji nodded solemnly, like he always did when he fully agreed on something, "Then it's best then that we don't try even moving Hinata either. Any attempt could lead to one of us being seriously hurt."

Naruto snorted, "Yeah, too late for that, I can barely see right now. Everything is just this really pretty blur of color that's starting to get on my nerves." At that moment he felt his face cupped by two gloved hands and recognized them as Sakura's, especially as the liquid warm feeling of healing chakra seeped into his skin and snaked to the back of his eyeballs. He flinched and hissed as the chakra met the back of his eyes, but Sakura held him still easy enough and applied the chakra methodically and without mercy.

Though it really hurt, Naruto was almost relieved enough to weep when his vision seemed to magically clear up and he could actually make out the worried frown on his teammate's face. "Thanks, Sakura-san, I can see again now."

Sakura nodded and stood up, dusting off her hands as if she had performed some hard labor, "Just try not to do that again, Naruto."

Naruto agreed. He really, really did not want to do that again. It hurt so much that he could barely remember what it felt like anymore, just the memory of the dull ache afterwards. Naruto looked around where Tenten was looking at him as well, and looked beyond her at the now very visible fog. The sun had already gone down minutes ago, but the mountain pass was awash in a dim pale light. It took Naruto a moment to realize that the fog was _glowing_. Barely, as if it were more reflecting light, rather than projecting it, but it and the barely visible full moon combined to make enough light for any trained ninja to see as if it were daylight. Especially for a trained ninja who possessed the naturally enhanced eyesight of a demon.

Right now, Naruto really wished that he couldn't see at all. Hinata's body had started giving off blistering heat in pulses and waves, accompanied by steam from her body, her face contorting as if she were in pain, and she probably was. One after the other the waves of heat came, as if she were a ticking time bomb ready to go off. That thought did not do anything to ease the acid in Naruto's stomach. Every time a wave of heat came off of Hinata's body the fog reacted and surged upwards, only to fall back again. But it only fell back so far, before surging farther ahead again… and the waves of heat were coming off of her faster and faster.

It was coming for them.

_**Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit… we have to run, we have get out of here! Oh shit…!**_

Naruto frowned in anger at the sudden reemergence of the demon fox that had been quiet since their trek through the fog, and pushed down the sudden instinct to run. _God damn it, Kyuubi! _

_What the fuck has gotten into you! You know we're not leaving Hinata or the others behind. What the hell are these things and why the hell are you so scared of them!?_Of course Naruto could understand why he himself was terrified of the fog, but he was a seventeen year old human. The part of him that was the Kyuubi was a eons old demon lord of the highest caliber. The fact that the fox was just as terrified, or even _more _so, of whatever was in the fog as he was, was more than just unnerving.

…

_Kyuubi?_

Kyuubi's answer was a barely 'audible' mental whisper _**… God-Eaters… **_

When Kyuubi said no more, Naruto realized that it was a name _and_ an explanation.

* * *

The papers in the Hokage's office sat undisturbed and unread. The four occupants in the room had stopped looking at the scouting reports and the other general papers that had to deal with Konoha, instead staring out the northern windows at a star-filled horizon instead.

_Such huge amounts of chakra…_ Tsunade was sure she was not the only one to notice the massive chakra signature that had suddenly appeared. She had already had to dispatched ANBU and messengers to inform all Konoha ninja not to worry about the chakra signature. That it was being "handled".

The problem was that she could tell that it was a _long_ distance away, and yet it was till enough to notice as easily as someone using a powerful jutsu standing right next to her. More importantly, it was the _feel_ of the chakra. It was demonic. That much she could tell from her times dealing with Naruto and the Kyuubi's chakra he would occasionally call.

But this was not Kyuubi's chakra signature. Though the ninja in her village probably wouldn't recognize the difference, so to stop a mass panic she had sent out her most capable to deliver the news that it wasn't what they probably thought it was.

"What the hell is that? That's not Kyuubi…"

Tsunade turned to see Shikamaru, along with Jiraiya and Kakashi, staring out the window just like her, as if any of them could actually _see_ the chakra. It was huge and far away, and part of her was telling her that she should see a pillar of light signifying where the demonic chakra was originating. It was that powerful.

It was the Nara boy who had asked the question, and so she answered to the best of the knowledge she had gathered. It could really only be one thing in her mind for it to be _that_ powerful. Shikamaru was now part of their little group of conspirators, and therefore received the 

gift… or sometimes what she considered to be a curse with what they had been hearing, of knowledge.

"I think it's the Shichubi's chakra… though I don't know why it's flaring like this…" Hyuuga Hiashi's concerns rang in her ears as scenarios of the cat demon trying to escape Hinata's body ran through her head. It was infuriating not knowing what was happening to Naruto, the boy she had practically adopted as her little brother, and not for the first time she considered leaping out of her window and making a nonstop dash to save him from whatever harm may befall him.

She quickly squashed such notions as the responsibilities of her village came to the forefront of her mind. _Damn you, you old monkey…_ Though there really was no edge of anger to her thoughts of her deceased sensei.

Shikamaru gave her a questioning look, "Shichubi? What the hell is that?"

Tsunade looked at Shikamaru and realized she hadn't really explained to him what she, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and the Hyuuga nobility already knew. So she launched into an abbreviated version of what she knew of the situation, and of the concerns Hiashi had voiced about his daughter.

By the end of the short diatribe, Shikamaru's expression was one of open-mouthed amazement… or horror, one of the two. He had already heard about Naruto though, and how he was the Kyuubi's vessel, something he had been suspicious of for a long time. This news that Hinata was a demon container as well was doubly surprising, but just like before, Shikamaru proved his values in not letting such information change is opinion of one of his comrades. Hinata would always be the shy and caring girl he knew her to be, and Naruto would remain loud, boisterous and determined as always. Demon container or no.

Then something clicked in his head, something he had read in an obscure book while he was still in the academy. He had found it on a dusty shelf in the back of the Konoha Shinobi library and had read it because it seemed interesting, plus the few pictures in it were actually very beautiful and didn't detract from the actual reading at all.

"Wait… I thought that a weasel or something… the Shibi was the seven-tailed demon… or was it the badger? Either way, I've only read that demons of the cat animal type only tend to grow a maximum of two tails, and the only one that does is the Nibi."

Even Kakashi's face was one of mild surprise, which was saying something since it was mostly covered by his mask. "Hm, never took you for someone interested in the topic of demons."

The Nara boy looked at the Copy-Ninja pointedly, and then shrugged, donning his usual bored expression. "I'm interested in _all_ topics, Kakashi. Always have been." Then he looked back to his Hokage standing behind her desk, waiting for the answer to his question.

Tsunade did know the answer to this question at least. After dealing with Naruto, finding out about Hinata's own tenet, and the goals of Akatsuki, she had decided to raid the Hokage's vault in an attempt to find out more about the matter of demons and jinchuuriki. An attempt that proved more than fruitful.

"Yes your right, the Shibi is the seven-tailed demon that belongs in the ranks of the Bijuu. Apparently, Shichubi is considered to be the _oldest_ cat demon in existence and the only one with more than two tails; and it hails from a time when apparently a demons aspect, or type, did not hinder how much power it could gain, or in terms of animal aspects, how many tails they could grow."

At the interested looks that the three other men were giving her she felt it was okay to continue, "The Bijuu were considered to be the pinnacle of power of the nine most powerful demon types of the animal aspect. Shichubi I believe was not actually considered the same type of demon as the Bijuu and their lesser forms, no matter its aspect. And therefore was not considered a Bijuu. It was instead labeled as a demonic 'spirit' that was considered neither good nor evil. While the Bijuu were definitely demons, the Shichubi and other's of similar order were considered more 'spirit' like no matter their demonic heritage."

Tsunade shrugged, "Truthfully? I don't really know what that means, or who came up with the classification, but it's what it said in those old dusty scrolls I dug up on demons and Bijuu. I was surprised that the Shichubi was even mentioned in them."

Nara Shikamaru nodded his assent to the explanation. It was good to know that his Hokage tried to learn about usually obscure subjects when they mattered. Overall, the fact that the sweet and demure Hinata was a demon container for a demon that was classified as the 'oldest of its kind' was quite a bit to take in. Of course, Shikamaru being Shikamaru found it too troublesome to worry about things too much. It was how it was, and his worrying about it probably wouldn't change it. He shrugged again, "Then I hope that that chakra signature isn't because they've gotten in over their heads."

Tsunade nodded and tried her best to push Naruto from her thoughts, turning back to the papers scattered across her desk. _Hiashi is going to want to see me about this_, she swallowed the wretched taste in the back of her mouth at that thought, her last meeting with the man was… less than pleasant, _but he'll recognize this chakra without a doubt, and it's his daughter…_

Tsunade picked up one of the sheets of paper, "Alright, this report is our best approximation of Orochimaru's current numbers…"

* * *

_Oh we are SO over our heads in this…_

Naruto glanced around frantically, not knowing what to do. The wall of fog was descending upon them in fits and starts, writhing in time to the pulsing chakra waves that were emanating 

from the prone Hinata. They had already tried using jutsu against the fog, trying to destroy it or at least blow it back, but it only seemed to swallow whatever they threw at it and just kept coming onward.

Naruto looked back at Hinata's still form as another blast of hot chakra hit his face and blew his hair and clothes in the opposite direction. It was almost like a hot summer wind… that hurt, and the closer you got to Hinata the hotter it got. The ground was already turning black and beginning to smoke underneath her, and he could see glowing cracks forming in the ground around her as the temperature around her body continued to skyrocket. It was amazing that her body hadn't combusted into flames yet. Something that Naruto was very thankful for.

All five them were arranged in between Hinata and the fog, as if to block the fog's advance, though Naruto had no idea how they were going to do that, fog was insubstantial and nothing they had done yet had proved to work. Naruto was not looking forward to being inside that fog and facing those…_ things_ again, but he would stand alone against all of them if he could keep them from Hinata. For he was sure that's what the fog was after, it hadn't started acting violently like this until Hinata had slipped into her coma and had started to sweat with heat.

Neji had already tried to order Naruto away from the fog and to the other side of Hinata incase they couldn't stop it. Naruto knew he was trying to continue his mission to protect him, but he had flatly told Neji that there was no way he was leaving Hinata's, or any of his comrade's, sides when it was apparent that they needed him.

Besides, now it was too late to try and run away. To try and run past Hinata and towards the other end of the pass was to probably be incinerated before you even got within five feet of the passed out girl. _Super-heated girlfriend deathtrap behind me, scariest fog I've ever walked through in front of me… this is not good, not good at all. _

_**You think?**_

Naruto started at hearing Kyuubi's voice inside his head again. He hadn't expected to hear the fox's voice after their little conversation about Kyuubi's fear and why he was so afraid of the fog. God-Eaters the Kyuubi had called them. The fox had yet to explain why he called them that and how he already seemed to know about them. Though Naruto was sure he could formulate an idea about what the name "God-Eater" meant, and why the eons old fox demon was afraid of them… it also explained why they were coming for Hinata now too.

_Wow, nice to see you up and about. Thought you were taking nice little nap on me._ Naruto's voice lacked the usual sarcasm such a remark would merit.

For once, the Kyuubi didn't fire back with an angry barb or sarcastic bit of wit. _**… I… I'd apologize, but we both know I wouldn't really mean it. **_Kyuubi actually sounded apologetic saying it though, which was surprising to Naruto.

Naruto shrugged mentally, that's the closest he'd probably get to a genuine apology from the bastard-fox, but that was okay. _Mind explaining why you were so terrified? And how you seemed to know what this fog is? Oh and any tips on what we could do right now would be greeeaaat. _

Kyuubi snorted, _**I was not…**_ he paused for moment, discontinuing the rebuke and instead actually answered one of Naruto's questions for once without preamble.

_**They don't exist really in our time or space… not even in this little corner of what we call our universe. Hell, heaven, purgatory and all the other alternate dimensions included. **_Naruto didn't need to ask who 'they' were, the flat cold tone that Kyuubi used when talking about them said enough. _**I was young comparatively to my age now when I first ran into them. They almost killed me… the all powerful Kyuubi. I had never met anything I couldn't destroy, I had never met anything so…**_**alien.**_** I tried to ask Kami about it once, when we were still on speaking terms that is, but the moment the bastard heard that there was a fog cloud of the things in our current dimension he ran and hid behind those big golden doors of his. **_Kyuubi snorted in disdain, _**as if that could actually stop them.**_

Naruto actually wasn't surprised that Kyuubi used to be on speaking terms with a god, but didn't delve into the matter, instead he waited for the demon to finish his explanation; while at the same time keeping an eye on the slowly advancing fog – apparently filled with those things Naruto had seen, called God-Eaters – and his precious Hinata who, from her facial expressions, seemed to be going through more and more agony as the seconds ticked by.

_**I finally did get some answers though, from some of the older trans-dimensional beings. Apparently, whatever these God-Eaters are, they do what their name implies. They are the only thing known of that can actually bring the True Death to a god or god-like being. **_Naruto did not fail to hear the capitalization on 'True Death'.

_**They rove the multi-verse, migrating towards exceptionally large masses of chakra and supernatural power, then move on when their 'food' becomes scarce. The last time I encountered the damn things was when me and my fellow Bijuu, plus a few others, walked the land in our natural forms. Apparently being in actual bodies on the material plane of existence gives out a larger 'scent' for the God-Eaters, and so they come a-calling to do their hunting. They materialize randomly and in a random location, and don't leave till they've had their fill. No one knows where their from, how they move, what they truly are, if there are more, or how to defeat them. Only that they come when theirs too much 'power' in the world. The fact that they've materialized here in our universe again can only mean one thing. Something's happened. Either a god has decided to break the rules and take a stroll in our world, or a demon lord or lords of significant power have escaped hell. Personally, I don't know how long it takes for those damn things to notice something like that and then get to where their going, but the point is that they're here, and they're here for a reason.**_

Hearing this explanation, Naruto looked back at Hinata once again, worry clouding his fear of the fog. _You don't think…_

_**No. Shichubi is powerful I admit that, but something like this I don't think is enough to draw their attention.**_

Naruto almost sighed in relief as images of the half-seen, half-remembered fog beings hounding Hinata and Shichubi around the world until they had 'feasted', seemed to melt away. Though, that brought a slight curiosity as to what could have possibly attracted something so terrifying to their own world.

Naruto was about to tell his teammates that there was nothing they could do about fighting off the fog and that they should try getting the hell out of there… though Naruto himself did not plan on leaving Hinata's side for a second. But he never got the chance as he felt an immense building pressure of chakra coming from where Hinata was laying.

_Oh shit…_ was all he could think when the world suddenly went white and he could hear nothing but ringing is his ears.

Then everything just as suddenly went black…

* * *

"**Amaterasu.**"

Flames blacker than night itself erupted where Orochimaru had been standing a split-second earlier.

They were outside, in the middle of a what seemed to be a plains that was studded with massive monolithic stones. Itachi had had no trouble tracking down the Snake Sannin's hideout, having known where a number of them were for several years now. When they had approached a group of the massive stones that Itachi knew to be the secret entrance to the underground lair, Orochimaru, along with over a hundred Oto-nin and his own right hand man, Kabuto, had been there waiting for them. Of course, they hadn't really bothered masking their approach, they had come here looking for a confrontation after all.

Now, the entire area was strewn with the dead and dying bodies of Oto-nin. Most were simply killed with Itachi's favorite weapon, a kunai knife, other's killed in their mind with genjutsu and then of course there were the gruesome half-skinned corpses that was obviously Kisame's work. Orochimaru had stood back with Kabuto, merely observing until Itachi and Kisame were done, before joining the battle as well, himself against Itachi and Kabuto against Kisame.

Itachi didn't seem to mind that his initial attack had missed, even as the blood flowed freely from his right eye, his attacks had been missing quite a bit, but he had been getting closer and closer with each consecutive strike. He was definitely in pain, and it was disconcerting when attacks like that missed the first time. Itachi didn't even flinch though when he focused his eye on the 

position Orochimaru was blurring towards and the entire area within ten feet of that point blossomed into burning black death.

Orochimaru may indeed be the fastest opponent Itachi had ever faced, after all the snake had all eight of his Hachimon open which probably made the world seem to stand still in his perspective. But Itachi was used to fast moving opponents, being exceptionally fast himself, even without his own gates open, which he could open three of – if he really needed to – and it was simply a matter of understanding where your opponent would be next.

Matter of fact, Itachi _did_ have all three of his Hachimon open, all of them needed just so he could get a glimpse of the general direction the Sannin was headed for. Of course, for Itachi, that was all he needed as he almost allowed himself a small smile when he heard a screamed curse as Orochimaru _almost _landed right into Amaterasu's fiery grasp, but seemed to use a pure wave of chakra to push himself out of the way while still in midair.

The pale Sannin reappeared in a blur a few yards in front of the Uchiha, accompanied with an explosion of displaced air that blew back Itachi's Akatsuki cloak. Itachi was pleased to see that Orochimaru had his trademark 'angry look' plastered on his face, teeth gritted and eyes nearly bulging in outrage; though Itachi himself showed no emotion at all on his own features, not even in his dead eyes.

"Damn you, Uchiha!" Orochimaru was seething in rage. He couldn't understand it! He was faster, he was stronger, he possessed five times the chakra, but he couldn't kill that bastard Uchiha! Orochimaru felt a phantom tingling around his left wrist. Even now, after more than thirteen years since he left… no, _fled_ from Akatsuki, he could still feel where the kin-slaying Uchiha had cut off his hand for trying to take over the stoic bastard's body.

Orochimaru pointed at the expressionless Itachi, almost dramatically, "You should be _dead_! You little weasel! Why aren't you dead!?"

Itachi ignored the slight against his name, and merely enjoyed the fact that he had seriously pissed off the near-demigod standing in front of him. Anger was good, when your opponent got angry, they started making mistakes, the angrier the better. But it was not Itachi that answered the questions directed at him in blind rage.

Itachi did not turn his head, but merely swiveled his eye in response to the loud guffawing off to his right, where his blue-skinned teammate sat with his massive sword resting between his lounging legs. Only for a split-second though, he turned back to make sure that Orochimaru hadn't moved, but the fool wasn't even paying attention to him now, instead glaring death at his partner. _Didn't even realize that he had a perfect opening, especially with his speed… foolish._

"Wow, and they called _you_ a genius back in your day?" Kisame was quite oblivious of the massive amounts of killing intent now directed solely at him. Kisame shook his head, the killing intent was potent, especially with that much chakra backing it up, but in reality, killing intent was based on the person, not 

on how strong or how much chakra they had. Orochimaru's killing intent felt like some hungry snake's, interestingly mixed in with a little demon.

Hoshigaki Kisame was not impressed. So much so that he didn't even bother directing his own killing intent back at the snake-bastard.

Orochimaru seemed to notice this slight as Kisame felt the snake's cold anger turn to a boiling rage. Unsurprisingly, so much rage clouded the snake's focus and his killing intent dropped noticeably. Kisame guffawed again, seemingly unconcerned that Orochimaru was a hair's-breadth away from ignoring Itachi for the time being and slaughtering the grinning shark man. "Orochimaru, you're such a fucking idiot, of course Itachi's not dead. Y'see all that hyped up power that you've got going there? It's fuckin' worthless if you don't know how to use it, dick-face." Kisame just grinned wider, exposing his sharpened teeth, as Orochimaru's usually pale face took on a noticeable shade of red.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed dangerously, "What do you mean, fish-breath?" He wanted to hear what this idiot's reasons for invoking his wrath were… _they'll be his last words._

Kisame chuckled at the pathetic attempt at an insult, he'd heard better. He glanced quickly over at Itachi to make sure he wasn't going to fry his audience in the middle of an explanation, then turned back to the seething Orochimaru. "Y'see, you little reptile, its all about _skill_. So even though you're more – quote unquote – powerful, than Itachi and me, we got full capability over our skills as it were."

Kisame gestured behind him with a thumb, "See the pale haired twerp over there? The one who tried to slice me up after going all purple-eyed and freaky on me? Yeah, he was powerful, I'll grant him that, that old-man you killed a few years back may have had trouble with him, but he doesn't have the _skill_ to use his power to its full potential. You get what I'm saying douche-bag?" Here Kisame sneered, "You're the same as Kabuto-boy over there, moving here and there as fast as possible, throwing these super-powered punches and putting out more chakra than needed to power your jutsu. You're good, you're fast and strong, and you're jutsu are even more crazy than the last time I saw your ugly mug, but you sucked then, and your just as skilled now. You haven't grown at all, simply learning more jutsu ain't enough buck'o. You gotta actually _train_ to get stronger. All this shortcut bullshit that you've been pulling ain't doing you a lick'a good in my opinion. Its like you keep getting all these cool new shiny toys and you barely know how to use them, you just bash'em together like some retarded three year old."

Kisame returned to grinning full-out, "Simply put, Itachi is just _better_ than you, _loser_."

Kusanagi, was out of its sheathe faster than anyone could see just as Orochimaru screamed in rage and launched himself at the disgusting shark man in front of him. Or, at least he tried until Itachi appeared in front of him before he had even tensed his muscles to move. Orochimaru swung a vicious back hand, the glowing blade making a solid arch of light as it cut through the Uchiha's neck. Orochimaru grinned, _fool! Who has more skill n-…!_

'Itachi' dissolved into water the moment Kusanagi connected with the clone's skin. Orochimaru tried to move around the worthless clone to get at Kisame when the whole thing exploded on top of him.

Orochimaru got up slowly, staggering slightly from the mini-crater he found himself in. The majority of his skin was blackened, cracked and smoking even as he activated the second Genesis Seal to start healing 

his extensive wounds. He looked up through the curling smoke and steam to see the real Itachi standing there, his hand in front of his face in a half-ram seal, and let out an audible growl as he clawed for more chakra.

And it came.

There was a dull roar as Orochimaru expelled massive amounts of extra chakra from his body, a high wind picking up around him, clearing the last of the smoke away in an instant. He took a step towards the thrice-damned Uchiha, the ground cracking and breaking apart under his foot from the immense pressure of his chakra. Then another step, and another… he was going to take his time killing Uchiha Itachi. He wanted him to feel _pain_.

Itachi blurred as he seemed to disappear in speed, at least, to a _normal _bystander. To the near-demigod, he was moving in slow motion, each step painfully obvious to the Snake Sannin. The fool was charging directly at him! Orochimaru grinned maliciously and pointed his arm at the approaching Uchiha, his own movements probably even faster looking than the Sharingan user.

_**Seneitajashu!**_

Orochimaru no longer wore his robe top, instead preferring to go shirtless so as to show off the glowing purple lines of the Souzou Saisei. So all could see as the three snakes that seemed to burst from his forearm, spiraling outwards at break-neck speeds to ensnare the charging Akatsuki member and then crush him… _slowly. _

The summoned shadow snakes coiled themselves around the Uchiha, effectively pinning him and biting into his skin, causing th normally expressionless Uchiha to flinch in pain as they injected their paralyzing venom. Orochimaru then used his shadow snakes to pick Itachi bodily off the ground and then swing him around, slamming him into one of the many stone monoliths around his base. Itachi's body, carried along by the shadow snakes, went right through the giant rock, demolishing it. Orochimaru laughed maniacally, as he drew the now very bruised and very bloody Itachi closer to him. He wanted to watch the life fade from the bastard's eyes.

Of course, he had no fear of the Tsukiyomi now. Itachi had tried using it on him earlier, but Orochimaru had simply used his vast amounts of chakra to 'overload' his mind, booting the meddling Uchiha out of his head and practically nullifying the Tsukiyomi's effectiveness against him. And if the bastard even _thought_ of using that thrice-damned Amaterasu on him he'd rip him apart in the blink of an eye.

Orochimaru was still grinning when the entrapped Uchiha Itachi suddenly turned to water and literally exploded… in his face.

"Aaaaauuurrrrggghhhh!" Orochimaru's agonized screaming rent the air as he activated his _third_ Genesis Seal in an attempt to re-grow the front part of his face as fast as possible, which was now completely missing. It only took two seconds flat for him to fully heal _all_ of his previous wounds with three Souzou Saisei open and active.

But that was apparently enough, because the moment his eyeballs grew back and he had shut off his extra two seals, Orochimaru couldn't see hide or hair of Itachi. He vaguely acknowledged that he was lucky 

that his forehead wasn't blown off as well, it would've of damaged the seal array slightly, making it less effective.

Kisame however was still lounging on his little knoll, grinning just like he had before, this time however the grin seemed to say _"I told you so."_

Orochimaru grinded his newly grown teeth in rage, _that disgusting animal! I'll rip that smile right off his-_

"**Amaterasu.**"

The cold dead voice behind him struck fear deep into the snake's heart. He whipped around as fast as possible, displacing the air temporarily around him… just in time to see Uchiha Itachi's right eye, Mangekyou Sharingan activated, and bleeding anew.

Orochimaru's world erupted into pain as black as night and as hot as the sun itself.

Itachi stared in disgust, or what could pass for disgust on his face, at the writhing ball of screaming black flames. The fool had been so enraged that he hadn't even stopped to think that Itachi was preparing this little attack on him the entire time he allowed himself to be distracted by Kisame's antics. "Hmph." _Pathetic._

Itachi turned around and walked towards Kisame, and then, without a single glance, kept on walking right past him.

Kisame did a double take, looking first at the mass of black flames that was Orochimaru, and soon to be the entire area and his base, then at Itachi who, was now walking in the opposite direction, then back again. Kisame turned around, hefting Samehada with practiced ease and jogged to catch up with his silent partner.

As they walked past the prone form of Kabuto, Kisame, not wanting to be outdone by Itachi's little show, gave the unconscious body a good kick, sending it sprawling another ten feet or so. Kisame gave a sharp nod in satisfaction, and continued walking next to Itachi. "So… you do know that he's just going to use that weird seal of his to regenerate right?"

Itachi gave no sign that he heard other than answering, "Yes, Amaterasu's flames will burn for seven days and nights before going out, and he will have to maintain at least three of the Genesis Seals in order to survive. More if he wants to actually move around and function properly. Either way, when the seven days are done, he'll be weakened a little and will probably have aged that immortal body of his by fifteen to twenty years… if he's smart and just takes the pain, keeping only three of the seals active, that is."

Kisame allowed Itachi a little silence, surprised by the relatively long explanation that he just received. After a moment, he decided to ask what he had actually meant to ask, "So, uh, why didn't ya kill him?"

Itachi stayed silent for a minute or so, but Kisame knew better than to push for an answer right away.

Finally the Uchiha answered, "He's weak. It doesn't matter to me whether he lives or dies. I merely wished to gauge his strength, and I found him wanting." Itachi actually shrugged, at least his left shoulder 

moved upwards by a quarter of an inch, "Besides, Pein will wish to hear of Orochimaru's new found power. I will tell our leader that the Snake Sannin is no threat to his own dreams of achieving godhood."

Kisame shrugged, now that he knew, he didn't really care anymore. He had gotten what he had came for, a nice little tussle with someone who didn't die after just one hit of his massive sword. Samehada pulsed against his hand, expressing its own gratitude at being 'fed'.

Surprisingly, Kabuto hadn't died, only been knocked out, and Kisame had seen no reason to finish him off, seeing that he wasn't too much of a threat with his face planted in the dirt. The boy's curse seal was potent, and the supposed 'third level' the four-eyed idiot had called it was really just a simple refining of his own body so that it didn't have to mutate to contain the large amounts of demonic chakra coursing through his veins. The third level didn't make the retard more powerful, it just made it easier to control the large influx and random surges in his chakra. This in truth made Kabuto a more effective combatant, though Kisame could also see that the third level was taxing on the body; maintaining that much demonic chakra and keeping the body from mutating at the same time had put tremendous strain on the white haired fool, shortening what Kisame had hoped to be a nice long one-on-one fight.

Kisame mentally shrugged at his own thoughts. _Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. All five minutes of it._

Kisame turned towards Itachi again, almost excitedly this time. "Before we contact our 'fearless leader', do you mind if we stop at a restaurant? I'm _starving!_"

Itachi looked at Kisame with something akin to death in his eye. The six foot plus Kiri-nin had put a very large dent in his wallet the last time they had gone out to eat. However, noticing the much more gray pallor to his comrade's skin tone he let up and did another one of his barely-half-a-shrugs. "I suppose, but you're paying this time, Kisame-san."

Kisame's skin returned to its normal shade of blue as his fear died down, _Wow, thought he was going to kill me there… I wonder why?_ He banished such thoughts from his mind though as he began to daydream of the multi-course meal he was about to consume.

Itachi on the other hand, stared north west, though at the moment all he saw was a smudgy blur as his eyes recoiled in pain at having to be used. Using his Mangekyou Sharingan three times in one day tended to do that.

The night before, before they had reached Orochimaru's hidden base, there had been a truly massive surge of demonic chakra from that direction. Then at the surge's peak there had been an explosion of white light that had sent a pillar of white chakra reaching in to the sky, apparently many miles high since it was quite visible from where he and Kisame had been.

Itachi had no doubt that the surge of demonic chakra had belonged to the Hyuuga girl. What he was curious about was why it had happened.

* * *

She opened her eyes and stood up slowly.

It was day… she distinctly remembered it being night, though. She looked around at her surroundings in mute surprise and shock. She was in the middle of what looked like to be a massive seal array that had burned into the ground, leaving behind nothing but a crater and lines that still smoldered with a amber 

glow. Around her little smoldering crater was nothing but rubble and rock dust. Through all the airborne dirt and grime she could make out the shapes of mountain peaks to her left and right, though they were noticeable farther away than she had remembered.

In front of her was nothing but open air, there were clouds as far as the eye could see and above her were only the high-rising cirrus clouds.

_That's right, I'm still in the mountain pass…_

She was trying to piece everything together, but it was all jumbled and blurry, like digging through a pile of pictures, trying to find the right one. She remembered running from the Iwa-nin up to the mountain pass. She remembered destroying a village with three of her tails once, she hadn't wanted to, but they had deserved it. She remembered the fog and its… watchers. She shivered a little at that memory, or memories actually, since she remembered _two_ distinct times encountering the same fog. She remembered Kyuubi and Naruto…

_Naruto! __**Kyuubi!**_

Both of her voices rang off in her head at the same time as fear and anxiety consumed her. She quickly looked around, looking for Naruto and the others. _That's right! Neji, Tenten, Lee and Sakura too!_ But she saw nothing but boulders and rubble. _No… it looks like there was an explosion here… they couldn't of… no…_

She felt tears begin to sting her eyes as sobs started to choke her throat. "N-Naruto… Kyuubi…" It took her a moment to realize that she had rushed towards one of the piles of rubble and had begun digging. Lifting rocks as big as her head and boulders as large as her body with equal ease, and with equal fervor, her claws easily gripping the hard rock as if it were clay. She had to find them! They couldn't be…_ No! They have to be okay, _He_ has to be okay…_ The sobs wouldn't stop though.

Finally she sat down, her hands scratched and bruised from digging for gods know how long. She absent-mindedly sent a little chakra to her hands, causing them to hiss and steam as the minor wounds quickly healed as if they were never there. But her mind was on her friends, and most of all, her lover… her mate. _My fiancé…_

Sobs wracked her anew, and fresh tears burned their way down her face. She covered her face in her hands, as if to hide from the reality of the situation… "no. no. no. No!… w-we were going to be m-married… e-everything was going to be okay…!" She could suddenly feel a wail of agony clawing its way up her throat, she tried to fight it, but it would not be held back.

The moment the scream was about to escape her mouth though she heard movement off to her left, deeper into the pass, away from the open sky. She sucked in breath, almost choking as the scream died on her lips, and watched as a pair of boulders as large as two-story houses began move slightly, shaking off dirt and dust.

She felt her self stand and take an involuntary step towards the two boulders, when there was a loud crack that split the air, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. A crack had split one of the boulders 

vertically from top to bottom and she watched transfixed as both sides toppled over with a monstrous crash, sending up clouds of dirt and rubble.

She was already smiling and weeping anew though as she felt the familiar chakra suddenly engulf the area. It was like breathing after nearly drowning.

A glowing red tail appeared out of the hole and gripped the other massive boulder, at first moving it slowly, then finally heaving it away where it landed with another resounding crash.

"Yosh! Together we have conquered the boulders, Naruto-san! With our combined might, and our never ending fires of youth, nothing can stand in our way!"

She nearly cried out in joy, though didn't, afraid it would sound too much like a sob with how she was feeling at the moment, as a very exuberant Lee burst through the clouds of dust, loudly proclaiming his power of youth to the surrounding rocks and boulders… who aptly shivered in fear.

Sakura and Tenten came next, dusting themselves off, Sakura clearly huffing in frustration, "Its about time! I thought we'd never get out of there! How deep were we buried? Jeez!"

Neji climbed out right behind them, "We were exactly three hundred and fifty-four feet below what can now be called as the 'surface' though we had to dig at a slant so as not to rebury ourselves, so we traveled nearly half a mile. If it were not for Naruto using Kyuubi's chakra to create that protective sphere we would have all been crushed without anyway of getting out. I'm just glad he was able to use it just before the shockwave hit us."

They were all okay! The moment _he_ came out crawling out though, the last vestiges of crimson chakra disappearing and evaporating off his body, the others seemed to no longer exist as his crystal blue eyes scanned the area, "Holy shit, I think that blast leveled both mountain tops that were next to us!"

…and then locked with hers.

They both stared at each other for a mere split-second before rushing the remaining forty or so feet towards each other to leap and then crash together into each other's embrace, landing roughly on stone ground, though neither of them really noticed.

They were both crying she realized, though she didn't really care. He was alive! All of them were alive! "I love you… I love you. I love you. I love you…" He was whispering it too, but stopped when she kissed him.

It was awhile before they both disengaged from their kiss, and awhile longer before they finally stood up off the ground. Though, neither of them would let go of each other. The others, though standing by patiently, and smiling in relief themselves… Lee was openly weeping, she still noticed that they were staring at her strangely.

"W-what is it?" She turned to look at Naruto for the answer, he was also giving her a look too. One of surprise with a little curiosity, all mixed in with the pure love, worry and sheer relief that reflected in his expressive eyes.

Naruto smiled, "Well, your eyes for one thing, love; and the fact hat you're covered in lavender stripes from head to toe. Oh… and you're naked too I'm afraid…"

She looked down at herself, suddenly realizing that she was indeed in the nude and without any sort of garment or covering. She also saw what he meant by stripes. Long sharp stripes of deep lavender, covering her shoulders and arms, her thighs, her sides, the tops of her breasts and when she looked around she could see them going down her back, her butt and the back of her legs. She wished there was a mirror around or something so she could see her eyes, but at the same time she wasn't surprised or disturbed by any of this. It all just seemed sort of… normal, to her. And besides, it didn't really seem to perturb Naruto, he just smiled at her seemingly new look.

She nearly squeaked in surprise when he reached to the sides of her head and fondled her pointed ears.

"Wow, those are so cute." His loud laughter seemed to bring back a bit of normalcy to everyone else who just seemed to accept that this was how she looked now.

Naruto grinned as he took off his orange trench coat, now slightly ripped and worn around the hem from traveling through such rugged terrain, and being buried, handed it to her to cover herself.

She took it, wrapping herself snuggly in it and breathed in deeply, as the coat was full of Naruto's sent. It seemed to calm her and brought a measure of piece to the jumble of thoughts and memories that was her mind at the moment.

"Alright, you can use that until we get to another town and re-stock on supplies and, um… clothing apparently." Naruto embraced her again, lifting her off the ground in a big bear hug as he buried his face in her hair, "I'm just happy that you're okay, Hinata-chan."

She froze, recognizing the name as one of her two past names. Should she even be called that anymore? Or her other name for that matter? What… or more importantly, _who_ was she now? Did she even deserve a name? and if so, should it be a brand new one, a combination of the two, or just no name at all? It was a little hard to think with all the memories shifting through her consciousness and subconscious.

But as she felt her self relax in Naruto's embrace, felt his warmth, breathed in his scent, and felt both his human and demonic chakra, both separate and yet blended, she decided that she was what other's would call her; and Hyuuga Shichubi Hinata, sounded just fine.

Hinata-chan, sounded even better.

* * *

**A/N: **Alright everyone, hope you enjoyed the chapter as usual. Gots a few things to say here. As some of you may have noticed, I've started saying country names in Japanese (Iwa: Stone, Kiri: Mist, Oto: Sound... etc.) Mostly because I've gotten used to it, and I've just gotten better at it since the last few times I've updated. So I'll be going back to edit the other chapters for the same things.

So, Hope you all liked the explanaition for Shichubi's existance, and I hope I portrayed the new Hinata/Shichubi well enough. Oh well, more time to see if I do. Oh, and I hope the fight I had between Orochimaru and Itachi & Kisame wasn't too bad either. I thought I did it pretty well, using my own logic that I've gathered from the manga on Orochimaru's power level.

Anyway, I've already started work on the next chapter for Cursed Demon, and after that's up, I'll start on Chapter 29 for this baby.

Also, for any of you who are curious, I've come to the approximation that this story will probably be ending within the next ten or so chapters. After that, I will begin work probably on the sequal to this story whil simultaneously working on Cursed Demon, as I am now. Well, that's enough for now, until next time!

**Next Chapter!:** It's what you've all been waiting for! The world beyond the Norther Mountains and the appearance of the True Samurai!... or are those just barabarians?


End file.
